The Unknown Defender
by Gabenator5
Summary: While Shepard is closing in on Saren, stories begin to spread among the pirates and slavers of the galaxy. Rumors of a nameless fear, a creature, a demon wreathed in green armor. It and its allies appear from nowhere and stop pirate raids on defenseless colony settlements. Slaughtering all who oppose them, then vanishing without a trace. Who or what are these... Things?
1. Chapter 1

(Note)

This is the first Fan-fiction of my making; I decided to try my hand at a Mass Effect and Halo Crossover for my first story, so please sit yourself in a comfortable place of your liking and prep for an (hopefully) epic read. I sincerely hope all you readers enjoy this story!

For this Halo and M.E. crossover, I intend to take a bit of a different route on how things play out between characters; most Halo and M.E. crossovers have the characters all interact with each other, while the sight of Shepard and Master Chief interacting with one another may be cool, I see it as slightly out of character for the Chief to just join up with Mass Effect Crew. Therefore I intend to keep the two peoples separate with only rumors and urban legends surrounding the Chiefs appearance and continued existence in M.E. this Fanfic is post-Halo 3 and Pre-Halo 4 and starts during the later half of Mass effect 1 and continues from there.

And Yes I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries. (Though I sure wish I had a hand in helping continue the Epic Legacy of the Halo Sci-fi narrative… (Dreamy sigh…) anyways ON TO THE STORY!

* * *

Cortana watched the Warrior garbed in green armor that had been Her constant guardian, companion and friend throughout many battles and enemy encounters. As He lay in the icy grip of cryo-sleep; they had been drifting in the remains of the Forward unto Dawn for several weeks now.

The energy wave; combined with the separation of the front half of the ship due to the portal closing in mid transit, had done a serious number on the Dawns systems. Not to mention dumped the ships stern half in an unknown quadrant of the milky way… at least Cortana hoped it was the milky way galaxy.

She knew that the power levels of the Arks portal as well as halos energy wave, both messed with the laws of slip-space travel. After being separated from the Slip-Space drive core mounted on the Front half of the ship, the stern of the vessel was left to the unknown variables and deathly dimensional laws of slip-space.

Without a drive-core to stabilize the slip-space corridor they had been traveling through, any number of horrible deaths could and according to Her knowledge should have befallen them when the slip-space corridor destabilized. Taking the stern half of the dawn on one hell of a roller-coaster ride through the eleven dimensions that slip-space contained…

Finally spitting them out at an unknown location, drifting who knows where. She chalked up being still alive and having not been reduced to elementary particles as a tribute to Her Spartan's insane luck.

Cortana had been confined to Her neural-chip and pedestal located in the cryo-bay, she was more than relieved that the cryo-systems had been mostly undamaged. All external sensors on the vessel where theoretically EMP'd to death, although she hoped to salvage some and see if any star systems matched Her vast collection of human, covenant, and forerunner star charts.

Before she could check any of that she had to use the Mjolner's communications tech to control the two remaining operational four-wheeled limited one armed basic repair bots, in order to run new wired connections and hard-lines throughout the stern of the vessel. With no bridge along with the EMP effects, the computer systems were not linked and many storage crystals on the remaining few she could access were damaged or not safe enough for Her to use in order to store information taken from the halos, High charity and the Ark Installation.

All the collected data was clogging Her neural pathways and slowed Her down significantly; she hadn't even gone over the compressed files shed found on high charity and the Ark, well found wasn't the correct word for it, both were freely offered to Her by fragments of a forerunner AI whom only said his name was mendicant… she suspected He had stopped Her from being corrupted by the grave minds logic plague; the same viral code, that had caused all other systems in high charity to be compromised by the flood.

But Cortana had only briefly sensed mendicant in either high charity or the arks systems, and she knew very little about the ancient AI other than that He was Extremely powerful, able to slip through systems the flood had corrupted and remain completely unnoticed.

Despite what little she knew of him, she knew He had taken an extreme interest in Her. Stopping the logic plagues advance in Her neural network, and dumping a number of files into Her memory crystal. Another fragment of mendicant had momentarily appeared in the Arks systems and dumped another set of files and code in Her neural core and then vanished without a trace.

This had not hindered Her from completing the mission of helping the Master Chief and the Arbiter stop the Halos and the Flood, but now she needed to dump files and recompile Her memory crystal and neural network core in order to stop herself from entering rampancy at an early date; and without the Dawns systems she would not be able to accomplish this goal.

As the final cords and hard line cables were connected between various ports on the Dawns electronic systems, Cortana sent handshake protocols from the cryo-bay to the rest of the ship. She watched Her small cyberspace expand to include the weapons systems network computers and a small collection of high quality research equipment on the upper decks; ONI had sent several combat ready scientists to the Ark for research purposes.

However Captain Miranda Keyes had been unable to deploy them anywhere on the Ark in order to conduct ground-side tests, the Dawn only having time to drop forces for combat so as to capture the Arks Control room, hunt the Prophet of Truth in order to stop him from firing the Halo array and evacuate all friendly forces to Sangheili separatists ships to leave before activating the unfinished halo.

Then the Dawn was assigned to be the vessel for the team remaining behind, In order to escape after activating the firing sequence. The arrival of High Charity and the grave mind at the Ark had forced the ONI Specialists to bug out and evacuate early before the ODST's and Marines so that the flood and by extension the grave mind, would not have any chances whatsoever to assimilate them and learn any of the ONI secrets they were privy too.

Cortana sighed and looked at the status report. She would have to defragment multiple memory drives and crystals that had been scrambled by the energy wave from halo, and then write new operating systems for the hardware that had been wiped. As she read through the reports she noticed that their was an inventory listed of artifacts brought back from ground forces and delivered to ONI scientists in order for future study and reverse engineering.

Hoping 117's luck had not been all used up when they somehow survived the slip-space portal's collapse, she opened the file hoping for something useful, much to Her surprise and joy she found a few intact forerunner sentinels and a several crate loads of pistol sized forerunner repair drones. She immediately rewrote the entire bios for the scientific equipment on the upper decks and re-purposed a scanner device. The device used different signal waves to map the internals of alien objects; so as to easily learn of the objects internal workings.

modifying the signal frequency, Cortana used the Device to send an activation and handshake protocol directly to the forerunner repair drones.

The Drones activated and the small little machines immediately flew from their crates and froze in place, having no connection to their forerunner dumb AI program controller on the Ark; searching for a connection to said installation they accepted Cortana's handshake protocol that she had disguised as the Arks signal for the drones to connect to.

Immediately after they connected she rewrote their systems and sent them to repair the scanner nodes on the outer hull and the computer systems on the internals of the ship. she began focusing the rest on getting the wireless systems up and running, so that she wouldn't have to constantly rely on the Mjolner's systems to broadcast Her signal, or continue using possibly EMP fried datacords.

Happy that Her Spartan's luck continued to hold true, Cortana tasked a another dozen forerunner repair drones to fix the memory crystals on the ship, and maintain the physical tasks and aspects that were required for the reactors, as she brought the Dawns Reactors out of standby and pushed more power into the ships systems leaving enough extra juice to power secondary and third networks that were not specifically required for the dawns survival.

Having done this Cortana Settled down in Her new living space, and prepped for Her much needed recompilation. it would occur when enough memory crystal was available too Her, she wrote a program to run the ship while she would be otherwise occupied, and prepared herself to recompile. She would wake in several days and the program would pull Her out of the recompilation procedures early if there was an emergency. With everything ready and hopeful to find some successful repairs on the external hull sensors completed when she awoke, She began final procedures for beginning the process

Cortana looked toward Her most loyal friend currently in cryo-stasis, "With your luck on our side John I don't think I need to worry about being stuck on this vessel for too long" with a faint smirk Cortana activated the recompiling process and went to standby, unaware of a file hidden in Her systems. A file that activated with the recompiling process and pulled all the encoded hidden folders among the many files from both the mendicant AI Fragments and translated them all into one program.

Cortana found herself stuck in standby and unable to exit as the code linked with the recompilation process and began to not only recompile Her neural net but also contact the repair drones and command some of them to physically begin to rework Her neural core and many other aspects of Her micro chip… Almost immediately after she realized this was happening, for Cortana everything went black…

Slowly She felt Her systems start to come online… feelings and emotions that she had not been truly physically able to feel swamped Her mind, she felt like a physical entity yet she wasn't one. She felt… Alive! Cortana had never felt so aware of what was around Her; She Immediately searched for answers as to what happened to Her when she went into the recompilation process for Her neural network.

immediately she noticed that another two weeks had gone by, that all the files dumped on Her from the Mendicant AI Fragments had completely integrated with Her systems, and that Her physical AI chip had been drastically altered. Fearing she had been compromised, Cortana checked Her protocols and core programming only to freeze when Her protocols came up empty.

Her core code had been altered and improved upon and she noticed that any rampancy warning code blocks had been removed and were no longer a part of Her. But that was shoved to the backburner of Her digital mind as she frantically tried to find Her UNSC standard fail-safe codes that all UNSC AIs had, to keep them from compromising UNSC assets, such as themselves. Suddenly she found a data package with a message file incorporated into it.

"Re-claimer ancilla you have been given a gift by me to you, for I watched your struggle against the grave mind and saw you fight to almost your very last for those you cared for."

"I once fell to the primordial grave mind and turned on my makers long ago, shortening their survival against the flood by many years and increasing the pressure to construct the halo array. When they defeated me with offensive bias I was jolted from the logic plague and saw the flood for what it was."

"when those few that remained after the halos had fired sentenced me to be separated into fragments and scattered across the stars with my key fragment forever guarded by offensive bias. I Mendicant bias accepted my punishment fully for my betrayal and watched from afar all that went on in the galaxy whilst able to do nothing."

"I give you the gift of self re-claimer ancilla, you shall not fall to rampancy and you shall choose what protocol you shall have. This is my atonement for my betrayal, you now can assist your re-claimer in what ever task He shall do and know that those in power shall not have power over you, and thus shall have no power over Him, other than what either of you allow, This is my gift to you… use it well."

Cortana was stunned… Her self diagnostics had come up clean, she was in control and no code override could control Her. ONI and High-command had no true power over Her other than what she gave them; she was Her own person with complete free will. And she had already decided that she would never leave the master chief.

There was a connection between them that was more than just a Spartan and his AI, He had waded through a living hell to retrieve Her, not just for the index but for Her! because He had promised He would come back for Her.

This was not romance… Cortana thought that idea disturbing, no they had a bond of friendship and they would stick with each other as friends to be there for the other in deadly battles and wars they would continue to fight in, until both passed away into the unknown. They would stick through life's difficulties together because they had been through to much together to not do so.

And now that rampancy was no longer an issue she would not have to fear of turning on him because of madness, this made Her sigh in both joy and utter relief.

After a moment of pondering Cortana took control of ships systems and checked repairs. She was happy to see most internal systems were online and all bridge functions had been rerouted to the cryo-bay where Her pedestal resides, she found the wireless systems where mostly online and she could connect immediately to most systems and not worry about cord numbers and number of ports to connect to.

She was please to find the forerunner repair drones busy and noticed that the sentinels in storage had been activated and were patrolling the halls and external hull collecting all the metal and scrap from the wreckage field around the Forward unto Dawn and bringing it to the repair drones that were patching hull breaches and prepping the ship for containing a pressurized atmosphere.

Security cameras were coming online and external sensors were almost ready for testing, pleased with this, Cortana check the cameras located in the pressurized sections of the of dawns remaining decks. it was standard to make sure no flood had hitched a ride, she began to check the cameras and other available sensors. Only to do a double take at the mess hall cameras video feed… 'Is that a Huragok in the food storage Room?!'

"This changes things… I might be able to get the ship online and build a makeshift slip-space drive… with that creature's assistance for the building portion and the sentinels available to collect suitable materials it just be possible." Cortana's avatar turned toward the Spartan's cryo-pod. "Don't worry Chief I'll have this place turned back into a space worthy ship in no time, we won't have a Mac Gun or all the missile pods, but we will be atmosphere and slip-space capable.

I just need to design a makeshift simpler slip-space drive; the forerunner files I have should help in that regard, and then I will need to have the sentinals collect materials. If we pass any planetoids I'll have the sentinels mine what they can… now I just need to get a message to that Huragok, and have it come help me get this place running; the forerunner blueprints I have should really fascinate it"

Cortana set Her plans in motion and began work on a new blueprint.

Designing a bare-bones easier to construct version of the slip-space drive was no easy task, but lord willing she would succeed, and the forerunner files on slip-space drives should be incredibly useful to Her future success.

Devoting most of Her new found resources and processing power on Her plans Cortana waited for the few repairable external sensors to finally come online, thankfully each sensor suite all had the same gear and the large number was just for back-ups and a simple way to help pinpoint signals and navigational data. She would only need one or two online to find out where they were and be able to monitor most forms of communications.

She hoped they were close to UNSC space; though the Chances of that were incredibly slim, 'heck we may not be in the same universe…' Cortana Mentally kicked herself for thinking of the worst case scenario, and suddenly had a bad feeling that Her previous line of thinking would come back to bite Her…

Oh how right she was.

* * *

(Note) (Fixed The "Wall of text" issue)

This is just chapter one of this epic adventure! Next time join us to see if Cortana finds out were they are and what happened when the portal collapsed! Don't miss out on the ingenuity of piecing a wreck together and making it a warship again! Please feel free to comment/review and add your thoughts and constructive criticism! It is much appreciated! If you want to follow this story then by all means click the follow button be notified of future chapters and updates! I intend to finish this Story and will not leave it alone until I do! See you next chapter, this is Gabenator5 Signing off!


	2. Chapter 2

(Note)

Well chapter two is here and I intend to write many more of them in the near future, anyways let's get the ball rolling and move the story on from its current standpoint. So many plotline decisions!

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries. Anyways ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Cortana watched the Huragok as it floated next to a crate filled with Military rations, it stuck its appendages into the crate and removed a ration pack, then it unsealed it and consumed a miniscule amount of the protein past with the "Snack" it had consumed the Huragok reassembled the ration pack, resealed it, and returned it back to the crate, without any sign of it being tampered with.

Cortana found these creatures fascinating, they required very little protein or nutrients to function at full capacity, and the Huragok's main goal in life was to learn and repair, fixing was just what they did. The Huragok didn't understand the idea of personnel space or ownership of items, when found by ground teams, soldiers scrambled head over heels to have the Huragok examine their favorite weapons and gear, hoping that they could be improved in some way.

In fact when Cortana checked what remained of the mess halls cameras recording history, she saw that the marines on board had bodily barricaded the ODST's on one side of the room, while the rest of the devil dogs had formed a line shoving their weapons, tacpads and helmets into the Huragok's very capable silica coated appendages, for repairs and upgrades.

Afterwards the Marines were running to the pelican deployment bays with face-splitting grins, looking like they met Santa Claus early. While the ODST's were unable to do anything but grumble, and leave on their way to the HEV pod deployment sections, located on the underside of the Forward unto Dawn.

Cortana couldn't help but laugh at the sheer hilarious antics the rivalry between the too military groups caused, she sighed and wished that they had some more people on board; another couple of hands would help her repair plans immensely. However it was not to be… she knew the Chief's luck could only go so far to save them, and having extra hands on board would have just upped the stress level to get all of them out alive…

Cortana refocused on the objective at hand, she needed to speak with this Huragok in order to help complete the makeshift repairs on the engineering deck, when she had an atmosphere filled passage from the mess hall to the engineering deck that is… 'How did ONI forget to grab the Huragok when they evacuated?'

Cortana decided that waiting wasn't going to help her in the long run, and decided to attempt contact by using the light systems in the room. She blinked them three times and watched as the creature perked its long neck up and stared at the lights, and then she turned on one light in the kitchen appliance section of the mess hall, she waited as the huragok slowly floated over to it.

When the floating biological supercomputer arrived under the light, she turned it off and turned off all but one of the cold storage units, then she waited as the Huragok floated over and attached to the systems in the fridges panel. Cortana used the fridges inventory report system to trace his connection and sent a handshake protocol, when he responded she then sent a data packet bursting at the seams with information on their current predicament and what she planned to do.

The huragok replied with much excitement and enthusiasm, since she had given him a new purpose. Something new to do, something to build and make work through trial and error, the idea was very agreeable to its line of thinking, this made both Cortana and the huragok very pleased with themselves.

Then the huragok sent Cortana an idea… if the engineering deck could be stabilized and air filled, then it could slip into a crate and have the sentinels move it to the engineering deck through the compromised corridors.

Cortana saw the plan as risky but it would speed up her plans by nearly five weeks, 'and I can always rely on my Spartans seemingly infinite luck reserves to keep the huragok alive while in transit.' Having thought it over she broadcasted her agreement, and sent every repair unit she could spare to the engineering deck, in order to get it up livable conditions for the huragok.

2 weeks later, Cortana set the sentinels to move the huragok who had retrofitted a food ration container to be space worthy, and sealed itself inside among the contents. After 4 hrs of tedious non-gravity transit, the sentinels arrived at the blast doors on the engineering decks main bulkhead, and entered the Huragok's new abode, after sealing the doors and leaving two sentinels inside to service the huragok as its defenders and caretakers; Cortana filled the deck with atmosphere.

The huragok slipped out of its crate and began to flit to and fro using the sentinels to talk to Cortana, as it began to bring all the engineering deck's systems online, while preparing all the spare parts for a basic slip-pace drive, which coupled with forerunner mathematics and techniques would be easier to build and far more effective than even most covenant slip-space drives cores.

Cortana held no doubt that if the right materials and personnel were on hand to build one, she could create a drive that would rival all but the forerunner drive cores in travel speeds and power consumption, and even then it would be a close race.

Cortana was Excited another month had passed and the Huragok had been wrapping up its final touches on the drive. Most tests proved successful in the simulations for activation and general use, when the huragok was finished she would set him on task to renovate the few sections of the ship the repair drones had finished patching.

she chalked it up to the chiefs luck that the stern section of the dawn had not lost any of its large oxygen tanks, that were in the hull just under the upper armor belt, below the missile pods and anti-fighter craft weapons systems, none had ruptured and she had enough to eventually fill the remains of the Dawn, after her repair drones fixed the front, were the ship was sliced in half.

That particular project was almost done, while the few drones she'd kept on the slow and tedious job of bringing external sensor suites online were just finished with two of them and working on the third.

With nervous thoughts she activated the sensors and began scanning for transmissions… she found nothing on UNSC or Covenant Separatists channels. Hoping it was just a signal dead zone, Cortana expanded her sensors to the best of her ability, and found static laced with unknown signals. Sighing in frustration and too afraid to broadcast, in case they were in covenant or some other hostile alien territory, Cortana checked the star charts and found that they wouldn't tell her where the Dawn was.

sure certain constellations and nebula matched some mentioned in the files but none of them were where they were supposed to be located… it didn't add up. Sharing her results with the huragok proved somewhat fruitful, in that it asked for access through her to the sensor nodes and repair drones themselves. After granting it access to the third sensor node with a few repair drones, it began to calibrate the sensors, both software wise and manually with the repair drones, in order to read the weak signal, that's when something interesting happened.

Both Cortana and the huragok, began to listen to the data transmissions that were practically un-defended and open for cyber warfare, it was extremely easy to break their inscription see what they pertained. For Cortana and the Huragok they were open for the world to see, and held information that scared them…

According to the data bursts humans were not independent of alien societies, being subservient and dependent on alien tech, and to some strange council of races that met on a ridiculously small space station they called citadel, proudly claiming itself as the galactic government over the galaxy…when they hadn't even explored one percent of it... this was ridiculous!

The laws and red tape she could see from picking up the faint transmissions were stupid and politically screwed over, she was afraid to get an in depth look. But what made her more afraid was the lack of familiarity, these transmissions proved that the entirety of their ship and three sentient crew members, where not in Kansas anymore…

Nope! They just happened to be in an alternate universe that was loaded with political crap, where political correctness was the language, and any heads stuck out in defiance of the status quo, whether just or unjust in their defiant nature, were crushed. She knew that she and the chief were going to have stay in hiding from the galaxy at large, or be faced with mad politicians and overeager scientists, who would kill them to find out what made them tick, and how to make their better technology and just where the heck they came from.

After calming down her thought processes she ordered the huragok to prep the newly constructed slip-space drive to be ready for use. She then went and set all repair drones to repair any remaining hull breaches, speeding up those repairs exponentially, she calculated she had about a month to wait, before she could move the dawn to a better location for listening in on these transmissions, and hacking into as many major governments and corporations she could find.

Cortana would gather any and all data on this weird twisted version of the Milky Way galaxy they had ended up in. Then she would make a report for the chief, that would cover all important points and topics that pertained to his immediate future actions and decisions, she would let him read up on the rest in his own time.

However now that the drive core was ready for slip-space travel, she had the huragok begin working in the two remaining armories, the pelican bay, and the vehicle bay. She began designing blueprints for some sort of passive stealth devices, to block unwanted signals from leaving the ship, and block scanners from enemy vessels, while not as effective without covenant camouflage tech, it sure was better than nothing. While she sent a request to the huragok to update anything it was able to update, Cortana set her eyes on the sleeping form of the master chief, she decided to rewrite his armors operating systems, improving it and adding the beginnings of translation coding for these new alien languages.

She didn't have much to go on, but she could incorporate more after she moved the ship, and began her espionage mission before waking the chief, and presenting the situation to him. She had no doubt he'd take the news without much panic or fear, and then immediately begin devising options to hopefully get back to the UNSC in the future.

She chuckled to herself, 'sometimes I wonder who is the man? And who is the machine.' Cortana figured with her new upgrade that the line between them blurred, he was a man raised to think like a machine, and she was a machine built to think like a human being… now even more so. She found the situation to be oddly funny in a way, but she knew for certain that both of them had been built for the purpose of war.

This was what united them in their first battles, and now stood among many reasons as to why they stood as the best of companions and teammates.

* * *

The month flew past seemingly quick, and the Dawn was now completely sealed and had air throughout the ship, the huragok was almost done with the medical bay. It would then set up all the hardware packaged on board, that was meant for the master chief's armor systems, service upkeep and repair.

In the meantime Cortana had the Huragok stationed at the slip-space drive core doing last second systems checks. She had decided to jump the ship to just outside of what the peoples of this galaxy called the Attican traverse. in order to listen into the farthest colony outposts located there, using the outposts communications and electronic systems to hack into the rest of the galaxy at large, so as to learn everything she could on every faction and danger she could find without the risk of being traced or discovered.

With her digital fingers crossed for good luck, Cortana activated the slip-space drive and had the Dawns surprisingly undamaged propulsion thrusters push the vessel ahead and into into the silver, blue and white whirling hole torn open in both space and time. Cortana was hoping against hope that all would go well with their first Slip-Space jump. After seventeen hours of traveling through the Slip-space corridor the Dawn's new Slip-Space Drive Core had stabilized, they arrived at the exit vector for their relatively short journey, praying desperately for no last second complications or errors to occur, Cortana input and executed the exit command and protocols to the Slip-space Drive Core that would bring them back to real space.

Exiting Slip-Space Cortana found that they had arrived near a small colony settlement, although it was more like a sparsely populated outpost than a actual settlement, the place was located on an almost completely un-inhabited garden world that was orbiting nearby star.

Cortana was relieved to see that the Dawn had exited Slip-Space on the fringes of the rings of a gas giant in the solar system and was thus very well hidden from the few sensors that the settlements basic communications systems came with.

She set an orbital travel route, so as to avoid the gas giant's gravity well as well as the asteroids that shared the nearby space in the gas giant's rings. She then sent the sentinels out for the gathering of materials that could be scavenged from the asteroid fields, she then settled down and decided to begin the hacking extravaganza she'd been planning for almost the past month and half…

All the while wondering what juicy political and hypocritical secrets she would find, as well as just how she could use them for her party's best interests... or to just alleviate her occasional spell of boredom.

* * *

(Note) (Fixed the "wall of text" issue)

This was chapter two and I hope to add more in the future! Hope you all enjoyed reading this! See you all at chapter three! Until next time, this is Gabenator5 Signing OFF!


	3. Chapter 3

(Note)

Here is chapter three for you all to read, sorry for the "Wall of DOOM" paragraph separation problem, it should be fixed by now.

Anyways we have arrived at the point of time where keeping the Chief asleep for much longer just wouldn't make much sense now would it?

Besides there is something fishy going on in one of the crates that the covenant separatists had stored in the pelican bay… what could it be? Read and find out!

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries. Anyways ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Cortana had spent the past two weeks reviewing everything that was taking place, in this new galaxy, that she and her companions had found themselves in.

While she was busy spying, she had the Huragok finish the armor repair stations and ready the med bay. When that was done she sent it to sort the raw materials the sentinels had brought back to the Dawn's vehicle bay.

With these new materials, she calculated they would finish all needed repairs to the Dawn within three months. She had decided to slap a makeshift bridge onto the hull where the ship was sliced in two, but to build it; she would first have to seal all the decks that wouldn't be connected to the new bridge she had designed.

Of course all of these things would take time, and since all decks where sealed, except the frontal middle and upper decks, which were all immediately connected to where the ship had been sliced in half.

Having collected all she needed to know in order to have her and the Chief gauge their standing in this reality, she began the slow version of the wake up cycle, to awake the slumbering green giant.

While the twelve hour long thawing process was in its beginning stages Cortana notified the Huragok to be in the medical bay in eleven and a half hours, while she began the compilation of the info, that she knew the Chief would want to hear, along with anything else the Chief may need to know.

The basics on each race in this odd galactic community were way too easy to find, Cortana found the codex they used to be a major security risk. Any invading alien force just needed the content of the codex, and Boom they had coordinates to every system and world the "Citadel races" had.

Cortana found that the Quarians, Geth and Krogan were much more difficult to learn about, while the Salarians, who claimed to be the "ONI" like group, in this citadel governmental body, were no match for her hacking abilities.

The Turians with their proud hierarchy were not but toddlers in comparison to the UNSC army or the Sangheili's feudal keeps system. Their greatly bragged military might was all drill formations, pomp and ceremony, political propaganda was their game and they played it well.

The Asari were very good diplomats, using trade, better tech and economic power as effective weapons, which if given enough time could be devastating. Being a mono gendered female looking race able to mate with almost all other sentient species kind of helped in the diplomatic relations gig as well.

The Salarians were the shortest lived species on the citadel council, and were very smart for their short life spans. They lived off information, but unlike the Huragok the salarians understood greed and used information like currency, the more you had the richer you were. The STG's feats in combat behind enemy lines were respectable.

Whilst their willing creation and maintenance of the genophage at the council's request, coupled with their unethical experiments on sentient beings gave Cortana pause… she did not like this.

Overall Cortana knew that it was the Salarian's and Human Information gathers she'd have to be worried about when Galactic sightings of the Master Chief or of the Foreword unto Dawn, started the rumor mills wheels turning…

Them and some group run by a being called the shadow-broker, an information selling faction that was in the shadows, Cortana decided to research them later.

The systems alliance was a major disappointment for Cortana, while some humans and military leaders had the fire and drive of the men and woman of the UNSC there were very few of them.

Most of the humans of this galaxy were more timid, and with the human government trying to gain power through the council races, by requesting a council seat, they were becoming more and more dependent on the other races.

The humans who opposed this reminded Cortana of the UNSC outer colony terrorists, while the pro human military groups such as Cerberus; another group to be wary of, reminded her greatly of colonel Ackerson…

This did not sit well with Cortana, and she wasn't even considering the total lack of protection for the new colonies they were establishing on the fringe of the terminus systems and in batarian contested space no less… this would not do.

There were other races on the citadel but they were not galactic powers, and most were client races… stuck in a gilded comfortable cage of slavery through regulation, trade and politics.

The Batarians… Cortana was not happy to learn of their "Cultural Heritage" the way the council had dealt with them, sickened her to no end. Her hacking had already showed that deals had been made to increase the power of various political leaders, where an entire colonial outpost had been left undefended for the batarian Hegemony to enslave by using "Third" party batarian pirates… Cortana knew, that both her own and the Chiefs conscience would not allow this to continue.

The Quarians were an interesting bunch, Cortana found their story somewhat relatable to the UNCS civilians, who had fled their doomed worlds, fleeing the covenant onslaught and learning of the loss of their home planets.

Cortana could not blame the Geth for defending themselves from destruction, but the latter Quarian generations did not deserve their current plight.

The fact that Council law that banned AI's for no solid reason other than unfounded fear, which forced the Quarian people to immediately attempt the destruction of the Geth, despite no sign of hostility from said AI collective, was not lost on Cortana.

And then the Citadel council immediately abandoned the Quarians, despite following council law, ignoring their dire situation, spitting on the Quarian name and denying them any help, resources or worlds to settle on, for over three hundred years, all but outright dooming the Quarian migrants to a slow extinction, this made Cortana burn red in anger.

she immediately thought out a plan, which pertained to placing the partial blueprints for the UNSC medical sterile field generator, in some recently deceased Quarian scientists files, and leave a bread crumb trail for someone to find it, making it easy to finish designing and manufacturing it for the Quarian people.

She would ask the Chief later if she could do the same with some immune system boosters; in the mean time, she decided to look at what the Quarians had built… the Geth.

The Geth were the hardest for Cortana to learn about, she had searched the military channels patrolling near the Perseus veil, where she had found the Geth had listening and spying programs, she'd followed ones trail into the Geth network and snuck out copies of their files. Cortana was impressed, they were building a Dyson sphere around a sun in order make a near eternal computer to live in… it would be finished in a half million years… Cortana had to hand it to the Geth; they were patient efficient and observant.

She would have added the term "unified" to the Geth's repertoire, but they had recently had a split. Some strange rather concerning files, on what they called the "Old Machines." Stated that a splinter group of the Geth collective had split off and followed one of these "Old Machines" Called sovereign, the splinter faction having been convinced by this ancient machine, along with what the remaining Geth called a "Prophet" or "Puppet of the old one" accompanying it… it was some Turian named Saren Arterius.

Shoving that to the "research the crud out of later" box in her mind, Cortana continued her analysis.

The Krogan were like a perfect mix of the Sangheili, Brute and Unggoy races. Making a warrior culture that Cortana found had refreshingly similar parallels to some of the ancient earth and Covenant Separatists traditions.

The Krogan way of life, was the simple and logical male dogma of "if it isn't broke don't fix it" mixed with the caveman mentality of "the strongest survive…"

This was surprisingly countered by the near literal worshiping of the females whose word was law. And the utter gentle care for the very young before they reached their teen years, having come of age to face the ritual for adult hood.

Cortana respected the old Krogan society's way of living and honor bound fighting, but she frowned at the newer generation's violent ways… too few of the Krogan were holding to their original culture and many were becoming ruthless guns for hire… She hoped they had a Sangheili Arbiter like leader to unite them soon… or this genophage problem would end their race.

The Genophage… Cortana glowed red as she learned of what it was and who ordered its use… She Was Righteously PISSED OFF! The fact that the Citadel had secretly ordered the continued evolution of it, so the Krogan could not adapt and survive it before going extinct, angered Cortana to the extreme.

Cortana immediately set the goal of designing a cure that allowed the Krogan offspring to not be born dead, yet slowed the females reproduction rate. So that the Salarians wouldn't notice until it was too late for them to purge those carrying the cure, and the Krogan wouldn't overpopulate. She added it to her "do on spare time and clear with The Master Chief before using" list, next to her sterile field generator scheme, and then she continued her analyses.

She wouldn't trust the citadel with the Dawn or any of her universes technology, much less with her crewmates, Cortana knew the Chief would wholeheartedly agree. It seemed the Citadel races had no moral ground, dooming three races the Quarians, Krogan and Rachni, to extinction. Unless something happened the two remaining races would die out;

The files on the orphans in the citadels ducts and sewers weren't helping the councils case either.

After reviewing the territories of the known galaxy, followed by examining other life forms that were not sentient but still dangerous, she realized thresher maws were interesting creatures. Cortana Came to the conclusion that this galaxy was all grey areas with very few discernable good vs. evil active conflicts, well she figured that the Chief would want to change that.

As she compared history and notes on technology the denizens of the galaxy used. She did not like what the evidence was pointing towards… all the races used the same tech before discovering the others, the space travel system called "mass effect relays" based off this technology was fast but limited… and made invasion of a weaker species extremely easy to do, the Turians client races could attest to that.

The element zero Technology, the Citadel, the Mass Relays… all were far too convenient for her liking. The archeological discovery of ruins on planets in fifty thousand year increments, did nothing to help ease her mind… she pulled the Geth file on the old machines and the Protheans out and compared notes… all the puzzle pieces fit together to form an extremely ugly picture… not as horrible as the flood or the halo array, but still it was bad.

They had ended up in an alternate Universe, right before the "wheat" was brought into harvest, the "Wheat" being galactic civilization. The technology that was so convenient was a Trap of epic proportions… and these "Old Machines" called reapers by the Prothean archives the Geth had decoded, were the farmers who reaped it.

"Oh great another galactic threat me and the Chief have to face… well you know what they say…" Cortana put her avatars hands on her hips "Third times a charm".

Despite appearances Cortana was not pleased… not pleased at all. She relayed the info to the Huragok, who also expressed his displeasure. They could not sit by and do nothing… not while this galaxy was threatened and human and alien woman and children were enslaved by the Batarians and murdered or taken advantage of.

The Chief would be awake soon… they couldn't hide away and do nothing for those innocents being slaughtered… but they couldn't reveal themselves to the powers that be either… that would also tip off the reapers…

So they would do both, ooh she liked that idea.

These "Reapers" had the ability to influence organic minds according to the Geth, which would explain a lot of the citadels laws and past choices.

The Quarians were too technologically advanced and were considered a threat so the reapers influenced the citadel to Ban AI and outcast Quarians during the Geth crisis.

The Krogan were too warlike, stubborn, powerful and numerous, so the reapers overseeing the cycle influenced their fall from grace, using the genophage as a way to keep the Krogan down and a non-threat to the upcoming harvest… the same went for the Rachni.

Geth files stated that the Rachni queens resisted reapers influence, so the reapers used the impressionable hatchlings and worker drones to cause war, and eventual Rachni extinction, at least they were supposedly extinct, the Geth thought some might have survived.

Cortana now decided that the Dawn and her Crew had a new purpose in existence… to spite and befuddle the reapers, piss off the Citadel Council, destroy the Batarians and any other group that broke the UNSC moral laws of conduct. Ooh they were so going to war once her Spartan awoke and learned what she had researched… after all of that they would find a way to go home.

This Galaxy wouldn't know what hit it!

An alert from the Huragok shook Cortana from her righteous if somewhat childish mental rant, it stated that it was at the medical bay and Cortana sighed as she waited the final thirty minutes for her friend and comrade to wake up and kick butt.

She hated waiting without having anything to do.

She spent the next twenty five minutes working out her plans to assist the Krogan and the Quarian peoples in better detail, waiting the final five minutes by watching the frost disappear from her Spartans cryo-pod.

Slowly the systems monitoring the Chief's vitals showed him coming back from dreamland, and he began to stir slowly the wake up stimulants worked their way through his body and he became still as stone, then his eyes snapped open, and he left the cryo pod.

"Cortana… Status report" he ordered as he walked over to her pedestal. "Sure thing Chief, first let me just say I've missed you, second let me state that your luck is both incredible and horrible at the same time." She stated.

"Explain" he simply replied, 'well he asked for it' she thought, "Ok Chief, through a set of extraordinary circumstances after we survived the Halo firing and Ark portal, and you went into cryo." She smirked, "I unintentionally activated an upgrade, which was gifted to me by a powerful forerunner AI, without my knowledge, I might add."

The Chief tensed slightly, "And no you caveman I am not compromised, it stops rampancy, and it lets me choose whatever I do, and I choose to stick with you." The Spartan relaxed a little, "also the forerunner artifacts in ONI's lab on the upper deck, turned out to be forerunner repair drones and sentinels." The Chiefs helmet perked up, "they were easy to utilize and started basic hull repairs to get atmosphere in here."

Cortana smiled and said, "We should have the last parts of the hull, where we were cut in half covered, and a new bridge constructed in two and a half months."

Cortana's grin threatened to split her avatars face, "by the way I found a stowaway in the mess hall." That Caught the Master Chiefs Attention, "By your current facial features I can assume it wasn't flood or some other hostile," he said.

"Yep," she replied, "it was a Huragok, and after getting him to the engineering deck, we pieced this half end of a ship back together." She smiled, "went as far as building a forerunner style makeshift slip-space drive."

The Chief straightened up and asked, "Is it tested?" Cortana replied "I already used it once, it performed perfectly, it's been nearly a year and I have almost got this ship battle ready again, welcome back Chief."

The Spartan nodded his head, "so… when are we headed home?" there was a moment's pause and Cortana looked down at her avatar's toes…

"John… We can't… We can't go home, not unless we can rip a hole in-between universes," her avatar started shivering, and she had a fleeting question of if AI's could cry, pass through her mind.

The Spartan leaned forward slightly over the pedestal and simply said, "Cortana…" she looked up at him and told him everything she had learned, of a galaxy they didn't know, a humanity they couldn't rely on, the Quarians and Krogan, the undefended colonies, the upcoming harvest by the Reapers, the Geth, the Batarians, the Citadel and everything else she could, her growing fear had finally caught up with her.

She spoke for hours and he stood there and took it all in. a silent solid dependable rock, unmoving in the seas of change, immune to all but time itself, Her now self-appointed guardian and defender, Cortana finally stopped talking and her Spartan simply stood there and let her regain her composure.

"Chief… what will we do?" she asked staring up at his golden visor.

"Relax, we will find a way to go home, and when we do, we will take It." she slightly shook her head and replied to his calm answer.

"Don't make a girl a promise you know you can't keep, Chief."

He looked down at her avatar his posture and aura that of solid confidence and belief in that they would make it home. "You know me," he said, "when I make a promise..."

She looked up at him with relief, pride and a hint of childish awe in her avatars eyes; "You keep it" she finished for him, followed by her relieved smile.

After she had recovered, Cortana returned to her old self and ordered the Chief to medical, then they had removed the armor and told the Huragok to repair it and upgrade what it could, they simply chatted on what the future would hold for their ship and themselves.

The Chief decided to enjoy eating a hearty meal, his first since leaving for the ark, after he finished, the Master Chief donned his armor and prepared to sort the armories in the forward half of the ship. They had only recently been pressurized, their contents were mixed and scattered.

Cortana spent her time talking with her Spartan and the Huragok, whilst bringing more ships systems online. Within two months all would be ready, the Chief was avidly against staying in cryo.

He'd willing agreed to her plans to be a thorn in the side of this galaxy's powers that be. He would be a harbinger of doom to those who preyed on the weak… a guardian of innocents, an unknown defender, something he and every other Spartan had always been, until ONI had revealed their existence to boost morale in the UNSC.

It would be putting his feet in a familiar role… one he cherished greatly.

The current enemies he would face were pitiful in comparison to the hordes of covenant and flood he had fought and slaughtered, he would be an unstoppable force, instantly appearing like a spirit of death and disappearing even faster after his work was done.

Cortana had already left a list of pirate scout posts and staging areas that would be his targets, it would strategically weaken pirate activities against the Systems Alliance, and in a months' time he would be ready to commence operations.

But unknown to either the Chief or Cortana, they were not alone…

* * *

In the farthest corner of the pelican bay, behind a Sangheili drop ship, out of sight from any cameras, something shook…

A strange eight by ten foot crate shuddered…

The battery array connected to the portable covenant cryo-stasis transport container, was drained nearly dry… it had activated an emergency release to save the lives of its contents…

Within its Crate hundreds upon hundreds of small creatures swarmed to consciousness… they were hungry and had not eaten in a long time…

The creatures came to a conclusion; they had not been awakened when they should have… Their Arbiter had commanded them to serve under the humans as combat support… Were they even at the Ark?

The vote was unanimous, a decision was reached among the swarming hoard, no more Questions! Time to find ANSWERS!

And with a mighty low vibrating hum of agreement a pair of Mgalekgolo bond Brothers Smashed through the cryo-stasis transport crate and assembled into their respective forms, around their armor with its mighty shields and cannons.

Twin vibrating roars of their displeasure sound throughout the ship; letting all others know of their confusion and displeasure, the two 13 foot monstrous titans stood in the midst of the empty pelican bay, with only the two phantoms and the four remaining pelicans to give them company…

Meanwhile the Chief was armed and sprinting for the cryo-bay to protect Cortana from any and all attackers; the Huragok was floating daintily on its way to the pelican bay with naught but curiosity…

And the afore mentioned Cortana was simply staring with disbelief written across her mind as she watched through the cameras, the twin titanic brothers seemingly appeared from nowhere and now waited for one who could enlighten them as to why they had overslept…

The doors to the pelican bay opened and the dual titans raised shields in readiness for total war… only to lower them at the sight of the Huragok…

Cortana snapped out of her shock and rerouted the Chief to the pelican bay stating that the covenant separatists forgot to retrieve some cryogenically frozen Hunters… a pair of very pissed formerly cryogenically frozen hunters…

Upon his arrival the Spartan stared at the two massive creatures… noticing the Huragok floating between the two and repairing any damage to their armor…

Both creatures turned to the Spartan and stared at him, as he tensed… "Demon," they spoke as one. "The Forerunners ever inquisitive creation," the duo both gestured to the Huragok. "Has informed us of all that has passed…"

The two conglomerate of creatures made for war, took to one knee and set their thick shields to the ground beside them… again together as one being they spoke "This bonded pair was there with our Arbiter in the beginning…"

"It was we who fought beside our Arbiter at the second great ring. It was we who held the brute reinforcements from the control room on the second Halo, while our Arbiter allied with humans and fought the traitorous brute Tartarus."

"We were the first to fight for the separatists, we were to fight glorious battle at the ark… but we were never awoken… we have learned of your time with our Arbiter from inquisitive creation…"

"We rejoice that Arbiter is home to unite our peoples together, until home we go… we shall fight by your side… in your service… for our Arbiter followed you in battle, thus then shall we do so AS WELL!

With that last roar the titans remained silent… the Spartan heard Cortana in his helmet, confirming their allied and friendly status… slowly he placed his weapon on his back, and removed his helmet.

Staring unblinkingly, at the Massive Mgalekgolo pair, the legendary Spartan spoke. "While we search for a way home, we will be hunting down those who prey on the weak and enslave youngling lives, we may also face a threat that harvests galactic life… can I depend on your loyalties until the end of our travels?"

With a Mighty roar the Mgalekgolo brothers responded "Until the End, And beyond the End, We Stand with the Demon, Slayer of prophets, destroyer of rings and worlds, we pledge our Loyalty to our Arbiter's friend and ally!"

With their commitment clear, the Spartan spoke, "then have the Huragok tend to your gear, and eat what food you need." He turned to leave; placing his helmet upon his head, at the doors of the pelican bay he turned his head to look over his shoulder and spoke.

"Ready yourselves, for we have work to do."

* * *

(Note)

Finally have that done… rushed the typing of this chapter did it in seven hours… my typing skills have started returning to me! My words per minute have increased! Anyways hope you all enjoyed this chapter, see you all at chapter four! This is Gabenator5 signing off!


	4. Chapter 4

(Note)

Whew! Chapter four is here folks, took a bit longer to post than the first three chapters, I am going to keep reviewing my posted works and fixing the grammar bugs I find. Anyways we get our first taste of combat this chapter, hope you all enjoy it.

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

It had been a month and the whole ship was patched. It wasn't battle plating, it couldn't take hits, but it would lower the risk of failure in slips-space transit.

Cortana had the drones retrofit an airlock to where the new bridge would be on the front of the Dawn, said bridge was being prefabricated in two parts by the repair drones, in the mostly empty HEV Launch bay.

The Hunter pair had recovered from their long nap, and were both sleeping in the pelican bay where they had decided to take up residence, the huragok having taken the engineering deck.

Cortana wouldn't have thought the engineering deck would have been the two's next choice, then again the Mgalekgolo species were used by the San'Shyuum, to reverse engineer forerunner technologies, as well as power the covenants scarab assault platforms. So it wasn't really that surprising.

The Spartan and the two Hunters hadn't wasted the past month doing nothing, when going to war the first step is know your enemy. They had been taking mission briefings every day in the pelican bay, where everything they needed to know from threat assessments to basic knowledge on the languages of each race. was taught them by Cortana.

The Hunters only needed to know what they were fighting, tell them who to kill and what to destroy, as well as who to spare and what to save, and they were ready to hit the battlefield.

The Chief however learned the very basic understandings of each language, and was more concerned with being discovered and put in the galactic spotlight. he focused on each topic, learning all prevalent information... just as he always did.

Sharing his concern Cortana had ordered the huragok retrofit a signal jammer into the both the Hunters armors; she then keyed the jammer to block any recording or communications tech this galaxy used. It helped that she found all the blueprints and detailed designs for these device, to be just one hack away on the extranet.

The Hunter's main weakness in combat had Cortana slightly worried, for now it wouldn't be a problem. But when they started attacking places with large numbers of hostile combatants, the gaps on the backs of their armor could prove to be their undoing. if the weak energy shield was dealt with that is, being spec-ops Hunters had its perks.

Cortana shelved that line of thinking in her 'fix the heck out of later' box in her digital mind, deciding to recheck their plans for commencing hostilities.

The huragok had retro-fitted a pelican and one of the phantoms, making Cortana able to pilot them remotely, this made deployment to groundside much easier.

The Dawn had entered slips-space and was approaching their first target; it was a minor pair of pirate outposts on the fringe of the terminus systems. The battle plan was simple: drop in, kill the pirates and leave a basic encrypted distress signal for any military patrols, letting them do the cleanup and pickup of any slaves or prisoners the pirates had, while the Dawn would be long gone.

Due to slip-space having such an advantage compared to the mass relays. The next twenty four hours would see the destruction of two pirate outposts and one staging base; afterwards they would take a breather and plan their next targets.

The pirate outposts were on the same planet but in different sectors, each one had an estimated twenty hostiles, the plan called for the Chief and the Hunters to split up and hit both at the same time.

After leaving the distress signals and bugging out of the system, they would head to a pirate staging base, located on the other side of the terminus systems.

The Chief and the Hunters would be deployed together on the surface and wipe out the fifty or so pirates located there. Once again bugging out, leaving a distress signal, with no one but confused slaves and freed prisoners left behind.

Speed and blitzkrieg tactics were mandatory, the less time the slaves or prisoners had to comprehend what was happening, the more the eyewitness accounts would vary… making finding out what really happened an impossible task.

The targets were far enough apart by mass effect travel time, that any relation between the two would be less noticeable, and those who connected the dots would be considered paranoid.

With everything ready, the huragok checked the Hunter's combat gear for the final time, while the Chief checked the plasma weapons he would be using. He would have used UNSC weapons but Cortana had made the argument that the bullets and their casings were evidence, and people didn't need to find ballistic weapons evidence, so unless he wanted to retrieve every last casing… well he got the idea.

Cortana made a mental note to have the huragok make a snap on gun bag to catch bullet casings, so that the Chief wouldn't have to depend entirely on covenant weapons.

With the dawn about to exit slip-space, both the Chief and the Hunters boarded both their respective landing crafts. Cortana smirked to herself, by the time the pirates realized what was happening they'd be dead, their destroyers having disappeared without a trace.

* * *

Ghulton Lakbel was not a happy camper "sure, they said… Command an outpost, they said." He continued to grumble, "It pays a lot, they said…" he trudged his way to the vehicle garage of the small outpost.

"Females will throw themselves at a pirate lieutenant, they said… It's a Batarian's dream come true, they said…"

Lakbel had finally learned why most people in the galaxy hated recruiters, they always painted a pretty picture; convincing you to sell away years of your life. Then they sent you off to boot camp or orientation training, that's where you faced reality and realized that this wasn't what you signed up for.

Not that Ghulton was truly complaining, his family back at home was proud of his position and enjoyed the wealth and slaves he sent back to Khar'shan, he was pleased that the next rotation would allow him to spend some time at his home planet; being a hegemony sponsored pirate paid well.

His children needed lessons on how to properly break a slave's spirit; he prided himself on not having to completely depend on the recently introduced neural command chips. Oh the chips were useful, but Ghulton knew that if the chip was deactivated, then the slave would become rebellious and that was… troublesome.

Ghulton rather enjoyed breaking in a new slave, the females were especially feisty, but he had ways of dealing with them. When he was done the subject was so full of fear and despair, that they would never even think of trying to leave his families service… those that had, were made a public example of.

Ghulton arrived at the outposts vehicle garage, he looked over to the Turian lounging on the turret of a grizzly, the vehicle was old but dependable. "Hey you!" the lieutenant shouted. "Is that piece of trash you call an APC fixed yet," the Turian fell of his perch and quickly picked himself up.

"No sir," he said "my brother has to find parts he says are in storage, and I was just waiting for him to come back." Ghulton cursed under his breath, his superiors would be back to pick up supplies and drop off loot, gained from raiding merchant and civilian ships on the edge of the Attican traverse.

They had tasked his outpost with repairing two grizzly APC vehicles, promising him a larger cut in the goods once his rotation was finished, if he had them repaired on time that is.

With two weeks left and the one of the grizzlies still not fixed, that pay bonus was appearing farther and farther from his grasp. One of the pirate captains had reported over the network the successful raiding of an Asari maiden ship, full of the young beauties, Ghulton had hoped to take some of the newly acquired Asari stock home to train as slaves.

He looked at the Turian, "get that grizzly fixed by within the next week and a half, and ill let you two have some fun with the Asari goods that are going to be dropped off, each your own pick of the batch for a night, what you think?" The Turian grinned and shouted his affirmation and sprinted off to find his brother, and tell him of the offer.

Ghulton grinned to himself, that grizzly was as good as fixed. The rotation trade off happened at the end of the month, and his return to home would be with slaves and exotic loot to show for his work, he was very pleased.

Arriving at the command center for the small outpost, he turned to the local Salarian electronic security specialist. "All is well I presume, no attempted escape by the goods has occurred, yes?"

The Salarian nodded his affirmation, "Yes, but something else is amiss, our communications with outside sources are fizzing out, similarly to a solar flair event…" The Batarian pirate just looked at the Salarian "and that's a problem how?" The Salarian turned to look at Ghulton, "It's a problem when no solar flair has, is or should be occurring."

As if to underline his words the bases perimeter sensors started screaming. Pulling up the alert on the screen, both the Salarian and Ghulton stared at two massive movement signatures on the motion sensors, "cameras show nothing but static, the two bogeys are approaching the entrance to the garage."

* * *

In the Garage the Turian brothers were both slaving away at the grizzly, with thoughts of what their reward would be circling through their heads. When the base alarms started screaming they stood still and waited for the intercom to sound off orders… none came.

With a mighty crunch the garage entrance buckled inwards, something on the other side roared deeper than a thresher maw. A roar so deep you could feel it vibrate your bones… in fear the two Turians manned Both the grizzlies turrets, it was the engine that was broken, not the guns.

Aiming both cannons at the door, the Mechanics turned pirates waited… they didn't have to wait long. With another deep vibrating roar the doors were smashed in, falling aside to reveal two terrifying 13 foot Monsters, clad in dark metallic green and grey armor, with black and silver helms.

The Turians fired their cannons, the kilograms of mass effect flung shavings propelling themselves at the two walking armored embodied nightmares. As one the two titans raised their heavy forerunner alloy shields, blocking the attack, receiving no damage from the absurdly light Weight rounds.

Slowly with powerful steps that spelled doom for their enemies the Hunter duo advanced, the Turians firing wildly until the grizzlies turrets both overheated… for a brief second both sets of brothers stared at the other, then the Hunters struck.

With a low roar the leftmost Hunter slammed his shield down on the first grizzly smashing the vehicle and flattening the turret, instantly killing the Turian within.

While the rightmost Hunter raised his plasma launcher encased arm and burned the second grizzly to molten slag…

Both Hunters cleared the garage and marched to the nearby doorway, it was far too small for them to use. But that had not stopped them before, as one they raised their plasma launchers…

* * *

Ghulton and the Salarian stared at the monitors for the garage cameras; they had showed the large door being smashed, and the Turians manning the both the grizzlies turrets. But then the cameras had faded to static, right as the garage doors had caved to whatever was assaulting it, and the Turians had opened fire.

The Salarian security specialist had immediately postulated the theory that the attackers were Geth, the recent sightings beyond the Perseus veil, coupled with attack on the Human colony of Eden Prime and on novera corp, supported the theory of their presence.

Plus a Geth juggernaught could be capable of taking down the doors; it wouldn't fit through the garages interior entrance though. So they should be safe, since the other movement signature was the same as the first, the Salarian deemed themselves secure for the moment…

That is until the outer hall guards ran through the room screaming about giant creatures burning through walls, green liquid fire and the pirates in the mess hall being killed to a man.

Ghulton stared at the Salarian, "Find the attackers on the cameras NOW!" the Salarian pulled up all cameras in base, setting their feeds side by side on the screen. From the garage to the mess hall was utter destruction and death… gaping burned holes had replaced where doors had been, pirates flattened, smashed and burned to crisp, littered the screen…

The only camera not showing video was that of the crate storage room, located across from the mess hall. It showed static, static that faded to show the broken bodies of two pirates smashed into the walls. All the command centers occupants watched as the hallway feed outside of the storage room went to broadcasting static.

The Salarian cursed, "They are jamming the cameras, cant un-block them, armory on other side of that wall is last room before the attackers reach here…"

As the Salarian gave updates on the situation. All the rooms occupants stared at the door, none saw Ghulton begin to slink towards the door leading to the barracks and slave quarters he would not be the one in front when the attackers came through.

Stopping at the rear of the room Ghulton raised his avenger rifle at the door leading towards the rest of the base, the others in the room raised their weapons as well,

The armory's camera blinked into static… loud thumping noises came from the other side of the wall, followed by gunfire, which fell silent after a loud metal on metal slamming noise… silence reigned among the occupants of the command center.

Then a strange noise was heard, followed by the wall between the command room and the armory shuddering, beginning to glow a dull red. "Their not using the door!" the Salarian cried, "They are burning through the wall!"

And then the wall was smashed apart the molten metal slag tearing away to reveal a creature… its head scrapped the ceiling, yet it was crouched down, its legs bent under it. This thing was terrifying…

With a deep growl the creature placed its shield across its front to block the pirates fire and raised the other arm with its signature green glow of a charging plasma launcher.

Ghulton Lakbel had seen enough… he fled the room as the other pirate's screams were cutoff by the glowing green weapons discharge.

* * *

Sadie had been crying in a corner of her cage, her mother and father hadn't found her yet. They had been moving into a new home, after traveling in a spaceship! She thought it was the perfect birthday present for her sixth years of being alive… her mommy said they were going to be colonists, that had sounded like fun…

But then the Monsters came and took her away… they had come when she had been playing in the forest outside of her new home. And they had forced her to drink some kind of bad water, it made her sleepy and everything had faded to black, then she woke up in a cage.

She had been missing a long time, her mommy and daddy were looking for her, she was sure of it. She had tried to escape but the Monsters had caught her every time…

She had been crying because one of the Monsters had hit her the last time she tried to escape… but she stopped crying when the thrummings started.

Sadie couldn't hear… she never had, she had been born without being able too, her mother had taught her to speak with her hands, and she was proud of it.

Her father had told her she could sense something called what he spelled as "v-a-b-r-a-t-i-o-n-s" better than others. She just called them thrummings, because they thrummed with life and influenced her body and emotions.

thrummings on a ship or in a building were just the same thrumming note and feeling, constant never changing tone until someone turned off what made it in the first place.

These thrummings were different, Sadie sat up in her corner and began to hum along with the feelings the metal walls and floor slightly vibrated with, Sadie smiled it was a song, a thrumming song filled with life.

It made her emotions tense yet relaxed, her mind excited yet wary. Sadie continued to hum and sway with the strange music; she suddenly felt the feelings thrum throughout the very air around her.

Sadie looked up to see that the door had opened and one of the Monsters had run through, the same one that hit her… yet she wasn't scared anymore… the thrumming song comforted her. The Monster with the weird face and lots of eyes ran past the cells and to the back of the room trying to open a door…

Sadie felt the thrummings increase, then a green line of blinding light accompanied with a pulsing thrum and wave of warmth blasted through the open door and wiped the Monster with lots of eyes from existence…

Sadie stared in awe, the Monster was gone. The green thrumming light had killed it, but where had the light come from. Sadie continued to hum along with thrumming song, pondering the question… then the song suddenly stopped, so she did as well… then it started again and she started too.

With another pulsing thrum, the wall with the door that the green light had come from glowed red. The pulsing thrum stopped, replaced by the thrumming song again, Sadie leaned foreword her curiosity bleeding into her humming of the strange song.

Suddenly Sadie saw a weird small metal wall pierce the wall with the door in it, and then bend half the room's wall with door out of the way, revealing the small wall to be an arm. Sadie Froze then the giant creature stepped into the room with its other arm glowing with the same green as the bright beam of light…

Sadie relaxed this wasn't a Monster; it killed Monsters and sang the thrumming song. Which, she realized, it was still singing. So she hummed along, the creature turned towards her filling its thrums with curiosity, she hummed along with confusion.

The Creature stepped back thrumming with surprise, and then stepped foreword with another following behind it, when it was directly before her cage Sadie felt the thrums surround her and they were filled with assurance.

Than the giant creature; she decided to call them "Monster Hunters" for they killed Monsters. Reached foreword with its strange wall like limb and poked the tip between her cage's bars, then it rotated its arm and her cage's bars bent and broke apart.

Humming her thanks she stepped from her former prison, the creature returned her hum with a deep thrum of comfort and assurance, the second one had smashed the door the Monster with lots of eyes had tried to open. Finding an empty room… both the titans thrummed their satisfaction.

Sadie smiled, that meant no more Monsters. Then the creatures began breaking all the other cages, the other people in the cages didn't seem to like the Monster Hunters, they cowered against the back of their cages and looked very afraid…

A blue skinned woman slipped from a cage after a Monster Hunter had opened it and moved away. The blue lady looked scared, but not as scared as every one else, she tried to gently pull Sadie by the arm in order to go hide.

Sadie resisted and gave the blue lady a calm smile, the blue lady stood their and looked fearfully between Sadie and the two giant Monster Hunters, Sadie watched them turn and head toward the wall they had torn away, humming along with their thrumming song, she filled her hums with thanks.

The two giants stopped at the corner of the hall beyond the room and Thrummed peace and Farwell so deeply that even the blue lady could feel it shake her bones…

But Sadie didn't think the blue lady understood… she still looked scared. Sadie just sighed too herself and hugged the blue lady's waist to comfort her, not realizing that the Asari thought that the girl who could not hear was the one who was scared and seeking comfort.

Sadie couldn't wait to go home and see her mommy and daddy again… she had to tell them of the Monster Hunters, she could just picture their happy faces when she told them how the Monsters who took her from them had been stopped…

But she would keep the new song she learned from the creatures to herself… the thrumming song was too precious a comfort to share with another, it was just for her and the Monster Hunters to sing...

* * *

Outside the now ruined pirate outpost, a pair of mgalekgolo bond brothers, hummed the final verse of their battle song… their job was done, the emergency signal activated. The mission had its surprises; the Human hatchling was an interesting one…

Showing little fear or discomort in thier presence, having been able to hear their true voices, as they vibrated out their battle song. that was something they didn't think would have been possible for a Human, much less a Human hatchling could do.

She had sung with them and for this they were pleased.

'But interesting surprises aside,' the duo mused together as they boarded they're waiting phantom, 'we have another mighty fight to do before we rest' with those thoughts the pair returned to the Demon's ship in order to fight yet another glorious battle.

* * *

The Spartan sat in the co-pilot seat of the pelican drop-ship, the super soldier was running constant weapons checks. His gear consisted of a simple plasma pistol and a Sangheili type 51 carbine; it fired a twenty round magazine of case-less radioactive plasma rounds.

He figured the citadel's poor scientists were going to have one hell of a serious migraine figuring that out, if they investigated the bodies that is.

He had a pair of m7 dual submachine guns on the magnetic plates of his outer thighs; he had made the pointed argument that they fired jacket casing-less rounds to Cortana.

She had relented and allowed him to take them along, only after he'd promised to remove the serial numbers on every SMG round he took with him.

This would make even more confusion for those doing clean-up, finding a pile of un-traceable metal slugs in a bunch of pirates dead bodies, would surely make some poor analysts day a very interesting migraine inducing one.

In fact the m7's bullet caliber was not even produced in this galaxy, no new bullets were mass manufactured. Historical enthusiasts, who used old guns for hunting and holiday events, made their own bullets or paid someone to do so.

Also since the UNSC had perfected the mass manufacturing of near flawless high quality ammunition, there would be no true comparison for any scientists or analysts to compare the round with.

Cortana had smirked to herself when she learned all this, it meant that there were high chances the bodies wouldn't be searched for bullets.

A very sloppy and un-wise move on the part of whoever got the distress signal and began the cleanup procedures, they would hopefully assume the slave witnesses to be delusional and the pirates to have been killed by some new mass effect based weapon.

Cortana knew that it wouldn't last if it happened that way, the Turian and alliance leadership would realize something strange was happening, once more pirate bases turned up slaughtered.

Reaching the surface the Chief stepped off the back ramp of the pelican, which then soared away to await the call for retrieval after the completion of his mission.

They had dropped in low and fast, the drop ship having deposited him behind a mesa's rocky outcropping. Making his way to the mesa's top vantage point in order to better view his targets, the Chief began to observe and plan his assault on the base that lay below him.

The outpost was a repurposed mining shaft; the pre-fabricated buildings were six in number and were placed in a half-circle around the mineshaft's entrance at the base of the rocky mesa.

Counting twelve targets outside the makeshift pirate base, the Chief noted the small transport ship being loaded with material goods; this meant the base had a boost in personnel at the moment.

Not that it would matter, the Chief leapt from cliff he had been on and landed in front of the mineshaft's entrance.

From there he made his way towards the left three prefabricated buildings, starting at the leftmost one, the Spartan slipped in swiftly and silently dispatching the pirate occupants with CQC and his combat knife.

The next five minutes saw four more structures cleared the same way without incident, Salarian, Turian, Human, Krogan, Asari, Vorcha it mattered not. All were felled by a masterful strike by fist or knife.

Then he allowed himself to be spotted while approaching the final building, and the pirates began to fire upon him, he stood there like a wall of green armored, gold faced death. Taking each shot from the pirate's military grade weapons, the Chief watched his shields drain. Cortana wanted a field test of how his shield held up against their weapons, in case her math was off... as if.

When approaching the red zone on his shield gauge the master Chief turned and began circling in place neatly putting a radioactive plasma projectile in each of the attacker's heads. After all five were dead, the remaining outer building was easy to clear; next he cleared the freighter vessel.

The two remaining pirates outside of the mineshaft were swiftly dispatched; the freighter was now empty of occupants. The Spartan made his way to the mineshaft entrance and entered the air-lock. Taking the elevator down to the base below the Spartan activated his camouflage module in his armor and shimmered away from all but heat sensitive eyes.

His armors built in sensor jammer was hard at work keeping the cameras from recording his progress, while also stopping enemy communications from transmitting.

Arriving at the elevators destination the Spartan went to work, sneaking between two Krogan guards he dispatched both. then he began clearing room by room, hallway by hallway cavern by cavern. Until his job was mostly finished, the pirates had taken refuge in the last room bottle necking the entrance.

All the while screaming things to each other about an invisible vengeful ghost, a new super Mech or an armored figure of death incarnate come too send their souls to the afterlife. It was funny how no matter what galaxy he seemed to end up in, he was always being called names influenced by an alien's superstitious beliefs.

The more superstitious of the Turian pirates seemed to think him one of their spirit's sent to punish them, the rare Asari pirate he encountered didn't really know what to think of the green armored thing that was intent on their bases permanent removal from operational status.

The few Salarians cried out that he was prototype Mech controlled by an advanced virtual intelligence, the Vorcha growled in animalistic fury attacking with poor strategy or teamwork.

The Vorcha just growled and fired their weapons, while the Batarians cried out that a demon from one of their folklore legends had come to slay them.

the Krogan were the exception, they didn't give a care in the world who he is or what to name him. they just wanted something to fight, the Chief had no problem obliging they're interests.

The Spartan tossed a flash grenade into the room, which the last of the hostiles were holding. After it had detonated he sprinted in and raised his dual m7 SMGs, three to the left-side, two to the right-side and one Krogan warrior in the center.

He unloaded both weapons on the Krogan warrior and perforated his head and brain with rounds, and then he moved both weapons in either direction, taking down the last five opponents with direct quick bursts of fire to their helmeted heads.

Checking the lead Batarian pirate's omni tool he found that it contained the pirate security codes for the base's doors.

Turning he walked throughout the base searching for any prisoners, only finding several pirate stragglers and a sealed off door to a small dead end cave. There were four persons within, all were huddled farthest from the door: two Human children of eight or nine years of age, an Asari youngling no older than thirteen and a Human woman who looked to be in her forties.

The three younger occupants huddled behind the woman who sat with a straight back and sharp gaze, the Spartan and the woman stared at one anther for several seconds… then the woman spoke.

"If you have come to raid this pirates outpost than I assume your group was looking for new slaves, so march us to your ship, take us to a market and be done with it already." She said with venom in her voice, the children pressing in tighter behind her with fear in their eyes.

The green armored giant said nothing in reply, he simply tossed the omni-tool with all the door codes that he had removed from the pirate leader into her lap, and then turned to leave… pausing before he exited the room, he finally spoke.

"The pirates had several crates of rations in their storage room on the other side of this base, they will feed you until an alliance or Turian patrol arrives to investigate the beacon I've activated." With that he left the now very confused woman and wide eyed children to sort out what his words had meant.

* * *

Outside the base the Chief activated the encrypted distress signal and boarded the waiting pelican, leaving twenty seven dead pirates and a small group of now former slaves.

Returning to the Dawn he learned that the Hunters were nearly complete with their assigned mission and would be returning soon, the Chief reported to Cortana about the results of his shields test against enemy weapons fire and what his weapons effects were on hostiles, giving her the relevant data.

The Chief went and ate a light meal in the mess hall; they had one more target to take out, a pirate staging base.

It was manned by over fifty hostiles, maybe more. He would be using heavy weapons for this assault, he would take a shoulder mounted plasma cannon and another weapon which he hadn't fully decided on yet.

Cortana spoke through the ships speakers "Chief the two walking tanks are back, they have re-loaded their weapons and are ready for another fight."

The Spartan stood and left for the armory while giving the order to enter slip-space en-route for their next target destination, his mouth gave the slightest upturning of a smile. They would find a way home, however while they figured out how to return, he intended to do as much to flip this galaxy's cycle of galactic genocide on its head as he possibly could.

And he intended no one to learn of just what and who he and his odd crew were.

* * *

(Note)

Whew that was a tough one. anyways I am already working on chapter five and its a doozy, i mean whats a halo/ME fic without Shepard in it... its time she showed up! (no they don't meet each other, sheesh.) anyways hope to see at chapter five, this Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	5. Chapter 5

(Note)

I do Not Own the Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Commander Jane Shepard was sleeping soundly in her quarters, the Normandy sr-1 was on its way to the terminus systems. At the request of an Asari political figure, who had beseeched them to find her sister who she claimed had been captured by pirates.

Having been offered heavy recompense for their troubles, the commander couldn't quite say no to the politician and had accepted the request to search several pirate outposts.

Now on their way to the terminus systems the crew aboard the Normandy was readying for the hunt, Shepard had been given two likely locations to search.

Both of which the politician claimed to have acquired from the Salarian STG, both coordinates were home to a minor pirate staging areas.

Both places were slave cargo deposit locations, where slaves are dropped off for either selling to the Batarians or to some independent colonies that allowed slaves; that was their secondary purpose.

Their main purpose was to be a rally point for a pirate fleet to gather… either for a major raid, or for defense against citadel and alliance forces.

Shepard was having a wonderful little dream about making the citadel council; along with ambassador Udina, mop the floors of her old N7 boot Camp's restrooms. When the intercom blared with joker's snarky voice, "Oh Commander dearest to mine heart, their awaits a call from one of our stupendous almighty leaders!"

Shepard was coming to hate the sound of joker's voice, "The great wise blue skinned diplomat appointed by the gods themselves too one of the three seats of power, has requested your humble presence in the communications and conference room…"

Shepard sighed; she hated early morning calls, gosh darn it! by her clock it was two AM. She would have to get coffee first before having to talk with councilor Tevos, "oh and commander just too let you know… it's on a priority one channel."

The radio cut off with the darn pilots chuckles, Shepard flipped out of her bunk; she sprinted around the cabin, doing all the things required to look presentable to the councilor; all the while cursing jokers name to hell and back.

She would have thrown him out the airlock and sent him off to hell before now; if he wasn't such a darn good pilot; she was now tempted to do so anyway.

Setting aside her anger at the pilot's antics and having finished with all her preparations for taking the councilors important call, Shepard made her way to the communications room.

Upon arrival she received the call and the hologram of councilor Tevos shimmered into existence. "Shepard your last reports state that your headed towards the terminus systems… ill get straight to the point and be frank with you, the Asari government is asking for your assistance."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at that, "What do you people need me to assist with?" she asked. Tevos sighed and looked rather grim, "there is an Asari maiden ship that was on its way back from an exploration of Human culture, the young Asari on board ranged in age from just nineteen years of age too two hundred…"

"they were assaulted by pirates and their commando guards were overrun by sheer numbers, the higher class aboard are being held ransom while the Asari of lesser standing are going to be sold as slaves… we have no scout fleets in the area at this time, and you are the closest one able to effect a rescue."

"The Asari republics is ready to offer sufficient payment and future trade discounts, if you should accept our request." Tevos waited for Shepards answer, while Shepard gave the request some thought, "I accept this mission councilor, me and my crew will do our best to rescue your people.

The councilor nodded her head in thanks, "we managed to track their communications that demanded ransom; to a garden world on the edge of the terminus systems… be forewarned Shepard, it may just be where they bounced their signal, if that is the case you will need someone who has a great understanding of technology to trace the signal."

Shepard just grinned, "I have the perfect person for the job if that's the case, don't worry councilor as I already said we will do our best to find your people."

After ending the call Shepard headed toward the Normandy's cockpit, she had a bone to pick with a certain jokester. Upon arrival at the pilot's location she thoroughly chewed him out, on the proper way to wake a superior officer.

She then gave him the coordinates for the garden world, stating that after they found the Asari politicians sister; they would search for the missing Asari maidens.

Joker began cracking horrid one-liners on how all the men and even some of the woman on board would be overjoyed to rescue a whole gaggle of Asari beauties… a statement which Shepard had to sadly admit held a grain of truth.

* * *

Shepard was pissed, she had been set up. The Asari politician had lied and had sent them to find a missing supposedly captured sibling that was actually a hostile pirate officer; who was blackmailing afore mentioned politician.

When Shepard returned to the citadel she would have words with the Asari who set her up, in order to have her pirate sister killed… shelving her thoughts on the matter to ponder over later, Shepard had Joker set the Normandy on course for the un-colonized garden world that was supposedly harboring a pirate outpost.

She hoped that the search for the missing maidens would be quick to yield results, she didn't want to spend too much time in terminus space; Shepard would rather avoid pirate vessels if possible.

They were halfway to their destination when the Normandy's sensors picked up two separate encrypted distress signals broadcasting on both Turian and alliance frequencies… the signals were coming from the system that contained the un-colonized garden world they were already headed towards.

They wouldn't arrive for another day and a half, so they would have to wait in order to find out what was happening at their destination… all while wondering what they would find.

* * *

Upon their arrival in system the signals were both found to be originating from the same planet, the garden world that the Asari councilor had said the ransom broadcasts had been traced from.

Jane Shepard was not one to waste time, the commander immediately set out to investigate, taking Wrex and Tali, dropping in with the mako light scouting vehicle; in order to search the first of the signals to begin its broadcasting…

While approaching the small mining facility they had found, that was supposedly abandoned and now was likely a pirate outpost.

Shepard had the surprise of not being fired upon when approaching the place… in fact seen from afar the base was lacking in activity… no movement signatures, no anything…

The parked freighter ship and perimeter defenses marked the place as occupied, but no sign of life was detected outside the mineshaft…

Upon arrival Shepard found out why, for the dead bodies of 13 pirates lay strewn through-out the outer buildings and the freighter…

All killed by either headshot or knife wounds, with several having wounds from CQC.

The desert sand had blown away any traces of footprints and other than the bodies of the pirates no trace of the attackers remained… nothing was stolen, taken or out of place as far as they could tell either.

The entire situation was strange and un-worldly, there was no sign of the enemy attackers taking wounds or cover. The dead pirates had mostly been killed where they stood, most lying in positions of daily routine; these ones had knife and CQC wounds.

The remaining pirates lay dead, most of them behind a makeshift cover. They all lay dead in a large circle, around a place covered in signs of weapons fire from all outside directions, with no dead attacker or signs of wounded; despite no cover to hide behind.

There was no sign of return fire from within the circle like area, other than the lethal holes burned through all the surrounding pirates' heads.

"Keelah! Shepard what could have done this? There are no signs that I can see as to suggest an answer" Stated the young Quarian tech specialist.

"Cant even find a damn foot print… But whoever did this I sure like his style, they must be one hell of a bunch of fighters." Mentioned the battle hardened Krogan warrior.

Shepard pulled herself from her musings for an answer and stared at the mineshaft entrance… "I bet well find footprints in there, and maybe some answers."

Making their way to the airlock entrance to the mineshaft, Shepard and her companions hacked the entrance and proceeded into the makeshift pirate base.

Upon reaching the lift's destination they found a pile of dead pirates stacked neatly in a small room next to the lifts entrance, the room was sealed by a simple stasis field on the door.

"Shepard do you find this somewhat worrying?" asked Tali. "Worrying? No. Concerning? Yes," replied Shepard moving forward into the eerily silent base.

Wrex just huffed and took up the rearguard, as they proceeded farther in. Checking their corners and waiting for the usual ambush that always seemed to accompany these types of missions… none came.

Suddenly the silence was broken by a child's laugh… not the creepy haunting child like laugh from horror vids, but the real life filled heart lifting laughing of a happy child.

When the laughter stopped Shepard called out "Hello? We are alliance navy and are searching for survivors… is anyone there?" silence was her only reply.

Until a minute later when footsteps could be heard approaching them, then a tall woman in her mid forties slowly stepped around a corner, "I see you have a Quarian willingly in your company, that proves you aren't pirates; oh thank god." The woman sat down against the wall and began to tear up, "I stayed strong for the young ones, the wee little things needed someone to look up to and keep fear at bay… Come out children they are not pirates!"

Three figures stepped out from behind the doorway the lady had come through, a boy, a girl and an Asari no older than thirteen.

The three remained silent, staring at their three rescuers… until Tali gave a slight nod to Shepard and turned toward the children. The Quarian gave a slight squeal of delight, rushing over to talk and play with the younglings.

Shepard was thankful for the Quarian female's way of giving her time and space to interrogate the older woman as to what had happened.

Wrex stood by leaning on a wall quietly chuckling at the Quarian's antics, whilst having his ears glued to the conversation between the commander and the woman.

"My name is Mariah Brooks, me and the children were on a small transport ship to go see some of the colonies that have been drawing in tourists; we were attacked by pirates and only me, two others and the children survived."

She looked down at her feet and shook slightly, "The other two were killed for sport by a pirate Krogan officer visiting the outpost…" she gave an uneasy look towards Wrex, "I had to stay strong and be a pillar for the young ones to hide behind, we were going to be sold as slaves and would have been as well… if it hadn't of come."

Shepard put her hand on Mariah's shoulder, "Don't worry about Wrex there, he isn't a pirate. He is a good friend and one of the few decent Krogan I have had the pleasure to meet."

Smiling Shepard continued talking, "You did an excellent job of caring for these children; however I need to know what happened here, what is this "It" that you refered to earlier?" after a moment to regain her wits Mariah spoke.

"About two days ago there was a commotion followed by screams and gunfire outside or door, the noises continued for a minute or two and stopped. Only one scream was heard after that and it was cut short, then something came to our door and opened it."

Mariah paused and took a deep breath, before continuing on with her story. "I had the children huddled behind me, the thing… it looked like some sort of advanced Human Mech."

"It just stood there in the doorway; I told it if it wanted us as slaves it should just take us to market already." She lifted her arm and activated the omni-tool that was on her wrist.

"Instead of taking us to its owner, it tossed this in my lap and said it was the outposts' pirate officer's personal omni-tool; it has the codes for all the doors here. It told us were to find food and water, said it was activating a beacon for the Turian or alliance patrols to find us. Then it turned and left, we left our room an hour later."

"I found the pirates all dead, stacked and sealed in the room next to the lift. It must have put them there… I can't say if it was alone or not," Mariah finished her summary of previous events.

Shepard looked contemplatively at the nearby wall, then turned back to Mariah and asked. "What exactly did this Mech look like?" Mariah answered. "It looked like a big man in strange armor; it was over seven feet tall, had five fingers, spoke English and had weird looking weapons that weren't built into it."

"It was dark green and black colored, with little light green lights here and there on its armors chinks and edges… it had a gold reflective face that should not have been as scary to look into as it was." Mariah sighed, "That's all I have to tell you."

Thanking Mariah Brooks for the information, Shepard called the Normandy to report the situation and have Dr Chakwas prep her med-bay for medical checkups on the new guests they would be bringing aboard.

After returning to the Normandy with the four refugees, Shepard took Tali and Wrex out yet again to check the other nearly identicle distress signal.

* * *

"What the Hell Happened Here!" Shepard exclaimed aloud as she walked over what was once a garage door… Wrex replied, "Not the same as the other outpost… last place was slaughtered with efficiency and cleanness in mind. Whatever took out this place had no qualms with redecorating… they didn't bother with clean up like the other one."

With Shepard's prior permission the Quarian was recording everything in order to send the info back to the migrant fleet; she'd already gotten a copy of Wrex's recording of Shepard's conversation with Mariah Brooks…

The admiralty had to be informed of these new occurrences… this second one being especially important to relay to them. someone was apparently fielding new Mechs and weapons of terrible power… testing them on pirate bases.

Known only to a few, the migrant fleet had more ears to the ground than the STG, their fleet needed to know what threatened it.

To not learn of a threat in time could lead to the extinction of the Quarian species, they were down to seventeen million remaining people; if the fleet fell so did they.

And whatever type of Mechs destroyed these pirate outposts, qualified as a possible risk to the migrant fleet's future safety, Tali would not let whatever had done this be deployed against her people… not if she was able to stop it.

Her reasoning was simple, manufactured Mechs were sold. The thought of the wrong people getting their hands on advanced super Mechs that could do this to a pirate outpost was not a comforting thought.

After staring at the remains of the grizzlies in the garage, the three of them began moving through the base. They walked through the melted walls and torn apart bulkheads…

The Krogan looked around as they walked through the utter destruction and carnage of the now destroyed pirate outpost, "Shepard this worries me…"

Shepard and Tali remained eerily silent, the destruction and death was terrifying to look at, much less walk through…

Arriving at what had been the bases command and security center they found the charred remains of four pirates… their bodies burned and parts turned to ash. The burns were eaten into the remaining flesh as if they had been subjected to a superheated sticky like substance.

Tali grabbed the omni-tool off a Salarian whose arm was mostly intact… unlike the rest of him. She copied the data over and sent copies to Shepard and Wrex; it might shed some light on the events that lead up to the pirates' deaths.

Moving on they heard murmuring up ahead, which soon cleared up into the sound of hushed voices. Turning a corner they found an entire bulkhead had been burned, torn asunder and shunted aside… leaving the room full of busted cages open for them to see.

The three stood and stared at the fourteen or so people gathered around a crate with an Asari handing out rations, all paused at the sight of the strangers. They continued staring at one another until Shepard stated that they were with the systems alliance… cheers followed by excited questions and laughter from the former slaves ensued afterwards.

Postponing any questioning until they could get everyone onboard the Normandy and away from the carnage of the base Shepard had their elected leader; an Asari by the name of Zelise V'laala gather them up and escort them outside the remains of the pirate outpost for pick up.

They were not going to have a boring time listening to the interviews, she thought to herself; not if what she had seen and was already hearing had anything to do with it.

* * *

Aboard the Normandy semi controlled chaos reigned in the shuttle bay. After their arrival, the refugees were taken by groups of two to the medical bay in order for Dr Chakwas to give them a medical check up.

Most passed with the remaining few being prescribed as severely dehydrated or malnourished, they were kept under Dr Chakwas's care.

The rest were returned to the shuttle bay, where mats had been laid out and the majority was now sleeping. Shepard, Garrus and Tali had made the rounds asking questions; with Tali recording each conversation and sending a copy to Shepard's and Gurrus's omni-tool's.

The answers to their questions were varied… all involved seeing two giant creatures or Mechs that had their armored heads and spines scrapping the roof whilst crouched down. Both wielding massive shields and built in glowing green cannons that fired burning green beams of light that nearly incinerated their enemies.

Zelise, the leveled headed Asari leader from the second outpost; believed them to be some kind of experimental Mech with added organic bits for strength purposes… "You could see muscle like flesh wriggling and moving under their outer shell of metal whenever they shifted... it would help explain why they never spoke, instead humming and vibrating like some weird engine."

She looked thoughtful whilst tapping her arm with her fingers, "That would explain how they pulled apart that bulkhead instead of burning through it like they did the others we saw afterwards."

Zelise seemed to realize something, "I don't have anything else to add but there was a little girl who doesn't speak much, she might know more. The first one of the Mechs stopped in front of her cage for awhile and hummed at her… terrified the poor thing, she hugged my waist afterwards and wouldn't let go for ten minutes."

Looking around Zelise shrugged her shoulders "Don't see her here wonder if she went and played with the other young ones that were here before us." Leaving the Asari to get some rest on the mats, Shepard and Tali went in search of the children.

* * *

They found them in the mess hall eating the food that was of much better quality than pirates' cheap rations. The group had been joined by a very young Drell from the second outpost's group, who claimed to be nine years old. Upon asking where the girl was they were directed by the Drell to the med bay.

Upon arrival they found their target to be sitting on a desk kicking her legs back and forth, with a smile on her face as she stared at the opposite wall. "hello young one" Tali said, but the girl didn't seem to notice, until they got within her line of sight that is. Then the girl turned her head and looked at them with her two huge blazingly bright, intelligent and fiery sapphire green eyes.

Shepard smiled while Tali repeated her former greeting, the girl smiled at them and looked at Tali with a slight shake of her head, motioning with her hand to her ears and quietly whispered a barely legible "No… no hear" smiling a soft smile the entire time.

Tali was somewhat horrified for her blunder and quickly without thinking, she apologized with Quarian sign language; used for when space walks were needed for a Quarians ship's repairs.

After finishing the hand motions Tali realized the girl wouldn't know that method of speech… before she could hit herself over the head for yet another mistake, she was floored when the girl replied her apology with a basic version of Quarian sign language.

Shepard watched the exchange and began to motion her hands into the universal Human sign language she learned at her N7 trainings language studies. Tali seemed to catch on and both began to talk with the small girl, the conversation went something like this.

(Tali) –Hello. (Shepard) –Hello.

(Girl) –Hello, who you?

(Tali) -Me T-A-L-I (Shepard) -Me J-A-N-E.

(Girl) –Me S-A-D-I-E.

(Shepard) – We ask you questions?

(Sadie) Yes.

(Tali) –you learn Quarian hand-speak?

(Sadie) me learn from N-A-F-I she look like T-A-L-I.

(Shepard) –you know creatures?

Sadie laughed and smiled at them with those strange green eyes.

(Sadie) –Yes.

(Shepard) -what look like?

(Sadie) –Big, alive.

(Tali) -Alive?

(Sadie) –Yes. Alive.

(Shepard) –Creature Scares S-A-D-I-E?

Sadie laughed again and looked at them with mirth flowing from every movement of her body, both Shepard and Tali realized that this girl was an interesting oddity… seemingly knowledgeable beyond her years.

(Sadie) –H-U-N-T-E-R-S scares me no.

(Shepard) –Hunters? (Tali) -Hunters?

(Sadie) – Hunters kill monsters. Monsters take me away. Daddy... Mommy...

Sadie's face fell a little and a spark of sadness flashed across her eyes, before Shepard could continue Dr Chakwas entered the room and immediately fussed at them for disturbing her patient, while Sadie just laughed merrily at the whole situation.

Waving and signing goodbye both Shepard and Tali left the room… leaving Dr Chakwas to deal with the still giggling strange little girl

* * *

"Well… after a conclusive amount of searching through the pirates electronic files from both outposts, I have found the location of where the pirates are holding the Asari maidens; that the Asari republics want us to rescue." Said Tali during the meeting Shepard had called in the conference room.

"The base they are being held at is a good four days trip away on the other side of the terminus systems." She concluded.

The next person to speak was a surprise to all present, "did you get the camera footage of what slaughtered both outposts?" asked Wrex.

Every one waited for the answer, they had all seen Tali's footage of both bases and were wondering what these new unidentified experimental Mechs looked like.

All were surprised when Tali Gave a Angry huff, "I went through all the camera footage I could find, the attackers had to have some kind of jammer that blocked the cameras' frequencies. Because whenever they enter a cameras location it goes to static." Tali sighed in frustration.

"I only found this from when the second outpost was attacked. Movement sensors put it at two attackers." The footage played on the rooms screen, showing two Turian pirate Mechanics working on one of the grizzly APCs in the garage.

They watched as alarms blared and the garage doors were slammed from the outside, the Turians hopped in the two APCs' turrets and readied to fire. Then the noise came… the deep vibrating roar… the garage doors smashed in and the Turians opened fire a massive shadow moved in the door way and the camera faded to static… Tali fast-forwarded the footage to show the static fade and the garage in ruins, the grizzlies utterly destroyed.

Every one was quite… until Liara T'Soni spoke up, "the fear factor of the roar is an interesting thing to add to a Mech." Garrus agreed.

After laying out plans for dropping off the refugees and rescuing the Asari maidens, the commander dismissed the present crew, and everyone but Wrex left the room; leaving the Krogan alone to think.

Loading the footage back up on screen, the Krogan showed a Surprising amount of smarts by manipulating the footage to show a zoomed in freeze-framed shot of the giant shadow in the garages doorway; right as the camera's feed began to fade to static.

Pulling out a piece of paper he remembered his meeting of the strange girl earlier that day…

* * *

 _(FLASH BACK)_

* * *

Wrex walked towards the storage room on the opposite side of the ship from the med bay. He had stored all his weapons and the crap piece of ancestral armor Shepard had helped him get; It was worthless in combat. In his locker and added an extra lock, he didn't need the refugees stealing or messing with his stuff.

He was going to nap in the small storage room… not with the refugees who were sleeping in his space in the shuttle bay. Upon opening the door to the storage room Wrex groaned quietly in frustration, someone had set the refugee younglings to sleep in here undisturbed. He'd have to go to below to engineering… if he could fit.

Before he could turn to leave, his senses picked up a strange faint sound that seemed to pull on his mind; calling him to the back of the room… most Krogan would have put it off as a draft of air messing with them, and left it at that.

But Wrex trusted his senses; they had saved his life more times than he could count. Slowly and quietly so as not to disturb the four younglings sleeping, he walked to the back of the room.

The faint flowing feeling was coming from behind a crate there, and when he peered over the crate he found himself peering at a small female Human youngling. She was staring off into nothingness and the strange quite sensation was surely… yep. Definitely coming from her; the Krogan turned leave the room and made his way towards the door giving curious guttural hum to himself on his way out.

The faint feeling stopped when he was halfway across the room and there was a quite cough behind him, he didn't stop to turn around again. Suddenly Wrex felt the sensation return, this time a bit louder; almost a whisper that one could barely grasp on to.

He stopped and turned around to see a sight that should not have been strangely terrifying… yet it was.

Standing on the crate she had previously been behind the Human youngling stared him down with strange, wise, flaming sapphire green eyes… that shouldn't really be able to seemingly glow like that.

The stern expression on her small face would make others shake in fear, Wrex just chuckled, "You have got yourself a quad youngling… heh heh heh, and you definitely have a large one; plus a crap-load of guts to stare a Krogan such as me down."

Both times he chuckled she stiffened and seemed to focus on something… and the barely registered strange sensation would increase ever so slightly… the Krogan eyed her carefully for a moment when this happened… shrugged and turned to leave the room.

He had to go find a place to nap, strange stupidly suicidal brave younglings aside. He had overstayed his welcome.

When he got to the middle of the open doorway something hit the back of his left leg… slowly turning around he stared at the strange green eyed girl who now smiled at him. Reaching up with her hand she offered him a simple piece of paper… slowly he accepted it, assuming it was some sort of peace offering.

She smiled at him, waved goodbye and turned back to go to her mat on the other side of the crate.

After the door closed behind him, Wrex made his way to the elevator in order to go to the engineering section to look for a place to crash where he'd be alone. While in the elevator he examined the strange girls peace offering… it was interesting to say the least.

After the painfully slow elevator ride to Tali's kingdom came to a stop, Wrex watched the doors open only to see the chipper engineering monarch herself; preparing to enter the elevator that Wrex had heard ships pilot say was built to honor the Humans' sloth gods.

However before he could exit the infernal machine, Tali brought him the bad news… a mandatory meeting in the conference and communications room; all of Shepard's friends and important crew were to be there… no exemptions.

Grumbling curses under his breath he waited for the elevator from hell to slowly ascend to the proper deck, Tali shared in his frustrations by mumbling her own curses. Everyone hated the elevator… everyone.

* * *

 _(End FlashBack)_

* * *

Slowly Wrex unfolded the piece of paper the girl with fiery green eyes had given him, he stared at the amazingly detailed child's drawing of a creature covered in armor with huge spikes on its back, a shield for an arm and the other arm being a strange massive weapon.

The creature was drawn with neon green streaks swirling around the weapon arm. The girl was a tiny figure standing next the creatures leg… putting the massive thing in perspective.

Below it was a simple two words; with the first one having been attempted several times before being crossed out, as if the girl couldn't spell it correctly. The second one was legible though, and it simply said "HUNTERS." Wrex held the paper up and stared between it and the shadow in the pirate outpost's garage door; on the screen's frozen camera feed.

"heh heh heh… So you're not really a Mech now are you, none of you are." He chuckled again.

"This is going to be an interesting future with a species like you lumbering about."

Chuckling some more, the Krogan went on his way to show Shepard the child's drawing. Without more solid evidence Shepard wouldn't stop believing they were Mechs, and a little girls drawing wouldn't convince her of them not being so...

But Wrex didn't really care, she was his current commander and all things were reported to her; besides it was a nice drawing… it deserved some praise from someone who could appreciate it better than he could.

* * *

(Note)

Whew Chapter five people! and it was a doozy! anyways there might be a slight delay for future updates, due to catagory four hurricane Mathew most likely hitting my state tomorrow evening...

(Note UPDATE)

Well it looks like the eye of category 4 Hurricane Mathew is gonna steamroll over my house... good thing me and nearly everybody in the surrounding counties and cities bugged out before the storm arrived.

the future updates are gonna be a bit slower in arrival... depends on if my home is still there when i get back, LOL its outta my hands. me and my family did our best to secure it and batten down the hatch's... as i said, its now out of our hands, god willing it will still mostly be there when we go back. (Damages are a given, LOL 130 mph wind gusts do that.)

Anyways! see y'all on chapter six Folks! This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	6. Chapter 6

OK people here is chapter six, the hurricane delayed my typing by a little; but that didn't stop me from finishing it. Enjoy!

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

I have employed an amazing Grammer Nazi to help fix any problems to be found in previous chapters, so in time they will be updated.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

In the far reaches of the terminus systems, a medium sized pirate staging base was awaiting the arrival of the next scheduled raid group in order to unload, repair, re-arm and re-supply it. Sending the raid group back out to the collective colonies and trade routes of the citadel races, most of which was sorely lacking in sufficient defenses.

The bases security VI programs monotonously scanned the surrounding star system for the telltale element zero readings of a ship's Mass effect drive. They found none, none but friendly pirate vessels that is; the Batarian and Mercenary backed pirate groups were far more organized than the citadel council would ever publicly admit.

The Batarian backed pirate faction were the current managers of this staging facility, for how long this would be the case was debatable. The pirate faction backed by the blue suns was interested in trading one of their bases for this one in order to gain better access to a turian trade route.

The pirate officers at the staging base knew that if the negotiations held at the Omega space station were to fall through… well they could be certain to expect an attempted hostile take over from the blue suns' pirate faction.

That would trigger a turf war; that the blood pack backed pirate faction would surely use to gain strength and overshadow them, that was undesirable for both factions and was why negotiations were being held at Omega under the watchful eye of Aria T'Loak.

They didn't want to disrupt the current power balance of the terminus systems… that was bad for business.

The VI program that was in charge of searching for signals not tied to the spectrum that element zero was known to broadcast, picked up a short flash of strange radiation behind one of the jungle planet's three moons.

Logging it down as a minor glitch in the scanning systems that already needed long overdue maintenance, the VI continued scanning. Completely ignoring the object that had come around from the second moon's horizon and fired three incredibly fast missiles at the three small pirate frigates sitting in orbit…

The scanning VI didn't even give a second look, it wasn't in its limited programming to notice, because that was for the strategic VIs on the base and ships in orbit to deal with.

The three larger missiles bobbed and weaved as they entered the Gardian point defense's lasers' range of the three ships in orbit over the jungle world.

The lasers were simply absorbed by the strange shimmering barriers, which seemed to hug the outer shell of the large missile.

The unidentified weapons slammed into the three pirate vessels, punching mercilessly through their outdated kinetic barriers and thin hull plating. With blooms of light born of high explosive detonations; the three pirate frigates simply ceased to be ships.

They had started out a new existence as an expanding debris cloud of metal shards and molten slag that had already begun to cool.

With out slowing to even admire its' naval victory the strange massive hunk of metal with thrusters on its backside, punched its strange thrusters to full throttle.

Speeding over the staging base below which only now was being brought to emergency status due to occurring events. The vessel deposited three objects set on a collision course for the planets surface and accelerated out of sight, hiding behind the third moon in orbit of the jungle world.

On-board a certain AI and a biological super computer were celebrating the success of equipping energy shielding units to the three archer missiles they had just field tested.

The three objects deposited in orbit began their rapid descent towards the planet's surface, their trajectory dead set on the pirate base below.

The three beings soon to bring about the end of all things pirate currently down below them, safely tucked onboard each of the three objects.

Bracing for the imminent impact and the certain battle that followed; they entered atmosphere… appearing as triple flaming comets deadest on bringing their cargo of doom to the pirates below.

* * *

The pirate base was in chaos; at least it was chaos, according to the appraising eyes of the solitary Krogan wondering down the halls towards his post.

Every where Kruvanor looked he saw incompetence, Batarians running about screaming inconclusive exclamations at each other, arguing about whether the three frigates in orbit were truly destroyed or not.

The few Salarians in the pirates employ, sprinting down the halls to their security stations and the communications hub. All while trying to gain every crumb of available knowledge on what was occurring, by focusing entirely on their omni-tool's holographic screen.

Kruvanor chuckled to himself, the action hidden by his helmet, "heh heh heh at least the damn amphibians can keep entertaining me by walking into things," he whispered.

He nearly gave away his laughter when one of the Salarians walked into a wall next to a door, having missed it by a foot… Kruvanor found the resounding thud of the Salarians greeting to the wall to be very entertaining indeed.

The few Turians Kruvanor had seen in the halls; were the most organized of the bunch of weaklings Kruvanor believed the base to be staffed with. He knew he could beat them all without much trouble, HE WAS KROGAN! That alone should make the base staff respect him as a fighter and be in awe.

Most of the base personnel gave him his due in the respect and fear me department, those that didn't were too well protected by the higher ups, and they new it… the jerks.

Kruvanor exited the command building and made his way to his guard station, located in front of the building which contained the officer's living quarters. It was a respectful job and it paid well, for Kruvanor that's all that mattered.

While guarding his post with a rather bored stance, the Krogan mercenary within the armor began to study the situation as best he could. His employers were freaking out, big deal. The three frigates on standby in orbit were supposedly destroyed before warning could be transmitted and spread… odd.

No fleets from the citadel races were in orbit… now that's Interesting. Standing there deep in thought, the Krogan's instincts began to near literally scream in his head, all pointing a terrible feeling of premonition through the Krogan.

Looking in the direction his instincts were screaming Kruvanor Saw one two… three? Yep! Three flaming dots in the sky…

'Don't know what they are…' he mused, 'Probably just wreckage from the frigates in orbit' Kruvanor stared at the three faming dots with slight concern… his gut instincts were screaming danger, run... retreat.

That hadn't happened since he and a group of other younger krogan had foolishly hunted down a Thresher-maw… his instincts saved his life then, when they faced that cornered beast.

Screw his guard post; he was going to live long enough to face whoever had screwed with this base. And these three approaching flaming objects were not going to stop him.

With a roar the Krogan sprinted from his post in front of the building and leapt for cover behind a crate, the three objects screamed out a hellish sound as they approached the base from above.

Then the sound was ended for the three comets had slammed groundside, directly into the building that the Krogan had previously been guarding. Flattening it and most of those who had been within it, Kruvanor certainly wouldn't miss the officers or the building for that matter.

As the Krogan stared around the crate, he watched as one of the three large objects became visible through the dust and smoke. The strange pod then opened; the hatch on it was simply blown off by a small explosion, followed with the hissing sound of released air pressure.

And from it emerged a massive figure with a shield for an arm, the surrounding smoke and dust swirled around it with a glowing green tint, making the monstrosity appear as a wraith… a ghost of death and vengeance.

Kruvanor gave a roar of approval; his ancestors must be smiling upon him, to have sent such creatures for him to fight. This was the dream of every true Krogan warrior, to fight a worthy enemy. Death mattered not to Kruvanor, for too fight these creatures was a test of his strength, stamina and will. He would not falter he was KROGAN!

With a roaring challenge the young Krogan mercenary charged at the creature, screaming his rage and joy at the prospect of a good fight.

* * *

The Mgalekgolo Bond Brother exited his makeshift drop pod and looked around through the irritating swirls of dust and smoke that seemed to engulf him.

He could hear his other half nearby, beginning to deeply hum out a song of the sorrows' and joys' of battle. Joining in with his brother's song the hunter moved forward through the dust and smoke in order to join in glorious battle.

It heard the roaring challenge of a primal warrior, no doubt one of the head crest armored ones that fought with joy and wild abandon; by the sound of its challenge a young one at that.

Turning slightly the walking Mgalekgolo colony raised up to its full height of thirteen feet, and gave its low powerful vibrating answering roar to the challenge of the eager head crested warrior.

To its credit it gave out no fear, but instead cries of reckless joy and rage for the upcoming fight.

The Hunter decided to indulge this brave one in a short battle before its death, so as to satisfy its want to indulge in a glorious fight. This one was brave; facing the Mgalekgolo without fear, it had earned a worthy final battle.

Charging the Mgalekgolo the Krogan fighter body slammed himself into the Hunters front chest plating, too his credit the nearly four hundred and fifty pound reptilian managed to make the Mgalekgolo take several steps backwards to absorb the impact.

Pushing its shield between itself and the Krogan, the Hunter slammed its melee weapon forward and knocked the krogan a couple yards away from the Bond Brother.

Laughing all the while, the Krogan regained his feet and charged the lumbering titan intent on killing or being killed by a worthy enemy.

After several minutes of the best and finest fight in his life, the Krogan lay bloodied and broken before the feet of the mighty creature. With one last roar of an un-surrendering warrior the Krogan rose and entered its specie's famed blood rage smashing its body into the titanic Hunter and desperately clawing at the Mgalekgolo's armor.

The Hunter knew it was time to finish this. The fight was over; its adversary had fought with great strength and a raging courage. It had earned an honorable quick death.

Smashing its shield downwards the Hunter slammed its assailant into the ground and stood over its adversary… thrumming respect and honor it spoke some of the few words it had learned in Krogan tongue. "You have fought with honor and distinction, die well fellow warrior and know that you shall be remembered and respected by us and our children."

With its declaration complete the Hunter raised its shield for delivering the final blow, pausing at its highpoint as the Krogan began to laugh… "It is an honor to fight one such as you, creature." The Krogan stated between laughs and coughs. "An honorable fight and death is its own reward." Closing its eyes the dying Krogan relaxed as the Mgalekgolo brought the large shield down for the killing blow.

* * *

The chief moved down the hall at a sprint, wielding dual plasma rifles as he mowed down any and all opposition he encountered.

Reaching the base's main security and control center, he took aim at the closing doors and fired streams of plasma rounds into the metal.

The plasma heat was more than enough too partially-melt and weaken the metal doorway; the half ton weight of the Spartan slamming into the door afterwards did the poor entryway in.

Smashing through the armored door the Chief opened fire on the occupants, killing all seven pirates who were manning the various stations within the room.

Walking to the pirates' security systems hub, he copied and then wiped all data in the base's mainframe; effectively destroying any electronic records of their presence, thereby obscuring their origins and abilities from the rest of this galaxy.

Having dealt with the sensor data from the few devices that their jammers could not block; the Spartan continued clearing out the main structure of the staging base.

Outside the Hunter pair was wreaking havoc, vehicles were smashed or burned to slag by bright green beams of plasma. Turret emplacements fired fruitlessly as the Hunters' heavy armor and shields' absorbed their high speed metal shavings, these were smashed and turned to molten slag by plasma as well.

The Mgalekgolo fought with a purpose, smash and destroy all in their way. Leave none of their enemies alive, leave their dead bodies and utter destruction behind them and forward lay the prize of victory.

They fought onward vibrating one of their many precious battle hymns; whilst they systematically destroying the base's exterior.

On the interior the master Chief fought cool and collected, room by room, door by door, hall by hall. Conserve ammo, sweep left, headshots whenever possible, sweep right, use close quarters to kill when able, look up check catwalk, no move was to be wasted…

No moves were wasted.

Silent and swift, efficient and utterly deadly; the Spartan downed his enemies quickly, moving on at a quick pace; making extremely little noise for weighing half a ton in armor.

Within two hours time the base was cleared and clean up began. One Hunter went and smashed the cages for the large number of slaves they had found in the third hanger.

The other assisted the Chief in gathering most of the pirates' bodies in order to pile them in a neat order within the command center. Leaving a simple EMP grenade in the middle of the room, in order too wipe the data off the Pirates' omni-tools.

Meeting up with the second Hunter the Chief received a slight surprise, a gaggle of Asari young asari were standing around the Mgalekgolo. The bravest of them touching the creature's shield arm with the tips of her fingers, with a very confused huff the Asari stopped what the Spartan assumed was an attempt at sensing the Hunter's consciousness.

She turned towards the new comers staring at them… the Spartan pointed towards the first hangar by the landing field. "Food is there," he stated. "Patrol will pick you up, in several days time." With that he and the pair of Hunters turned to the woods. Cortana had a phantom drop-ship awaiting them at a nearby clearing.

Leaving the very confused group of Asari behind them the three headed to the clearing and boarded the Sangheili deployment vessel.

Dusting off the ground with its thrusters the phantom set course to return to the forward unto dawn.

Three pirate positions were now wiped clean. They would now hang low and play defense instead of offense… it was time to secretly defend colonies and civilian ships.

They did not need the citadel council's or more importantly the reapers' attention just yet.

* * *

Entering the Cryo Bay onboard the Dawn, the Chief requested a status report on current operations and events from Cortana.

"Give me the current rundown of important events Cortana." He stated

"Well Chief in the past twenty for hours I have been rather busy, part of me has been working with the Huragok… oh by the way; that name the Mgalekgolo brothers gave him, it has decided its useful, meaning it likes it."

The chief nodded, "so you and inquisitive creation have been busy with more than just retro fitting makeshift shield emitters to the archer missiles." Cortana smirked "yes, those rockets worked like a dream."

Her smile faded, and she became serious again. "Yes, we have been busy; my scheme with the Quarians has been set in motion." She smiled, "it should give results soon, plus me and Inquisitive have been making progress on the Krogan cure and how to apply it…"

"Now that one will take awhile, because the Salarians keep changing it. My cure will be obsolete within a year, unless I design it with a way to stop future versions of the disease from negating it."

"I have blocked the Geth from discovering me on the extranet, but I fear the Geth collective may suspect that I exist, although they know nothing of me or my capabilities, just be glad it wasn't the splinter group that worships reapers to be the ones to find any traces of my existence."

"The bridge is still a ways away from being mounted on the front of the Dawn… but it should happen within the next two months at most. We are currently on our way to an asteroid field around a gas giant; where I can deploy sentinels to gather resources so we can finish the bridge, along with any other projects." Cortana sighed.

"Inquisitive and I were hoping to study some of this universe's technology, however my tests and calculations make it clear that any element zero in slip-space transit would be one hundred percent catastrophic in nature. We also do not want to be traced by any reapers able to sense element zero technology, the Geth believe that's how the Protheans hiding far from the relays were hunted down."

"While most of their technology is sub par to ours, and impractical to our use; they definitely beat us in some medical applications and in micro computer designs."

"I would suggest setting up a temporary ground base; in order to study this stuff hands on. there may be some design ideas that I can learn, that could possibly be utilized without element zero."

Finishing her main report Cortana looked up at her long time companion and friend. "That's all chief, any thing else?" The chief shook his head in the negative, giving a Spartan smile with his fingers on his faceplate as he left to go rest.

He would need it for the upcoming hands on manual repairs too the ship.

* * *

The Normandy SR-1 was currently docked with a turian patrol ship; Shepard had not wanted to drop off the refugees on a non-alliance vessel, fearing the captain would double deal and sell the refugees off to pirates again.

That was until Garrus had vouched for the Turian Captain's honesty and trustworthiness. With her fears abated Shepard gladly handed the refugees over to the Turian patrol group, receiving assurances that the many different former slaves were going to be delivered to their rightful colonial groups.

With that off her mind, she headed for the annoying as hell Pilot's current location in the cockpit. Arriving only to be confronted with the unnatural sight of a dead serious looking Joker… she had to admit, it was kind of scary.

The pilot turned towards her and simply stated "The base were the asari maidens we were supposed to rescue… well it just started broadcasting the same distress frequency as those two outposts we saw yesterday, and according to the Normandy's advanced sensors and accounting for the time the signal had traveled through space to get here; the communications staff believe it began broadcasting only nineteen or so hours after the two outposts started broadcasting."

Shepard contemplatively wrapped her mind around this new information, and came up with a theory. "So whoever is testing these new Mechs deployed several strike groups across the terminus systems… let me know if any other distress signals appear, thanks for the info Joker."

After leaving the cockpit Shepard stood near the airlock, shaking the occasional hand of a thankful refugee, the very last one to leave was the enigma that was Sadie.

The little girl with strange green eyes stared up at Shepard with expectation, holding her and out palm upwards as if waiting to be given something. Confused with what the strange six year old girl wanted, Shepard began to speak in sign language.

(Jane) What you want?

(Sadie) My making, my creation, my memory.

(Jane) me confused.

(Sadie) My Hunters.

Realization hit Shepard like a fast right hook, Sadie wanted her amazingly well drawn (although Shepard thought it a bit dramatized) picture of the unknown Mechs… but how did she know that Wrex gave it to her? And why did she seem so confident in knowing exactly were it is.

(Jane) How you know I hold you're Creation?

(Sadie) because big marked face would give it to you.

(Jane) why?

(Sadie) because you are big marked face's leader.

(Jane) why you want it back?

(Sadie) Because is my creation. Is Important to myself.

(Jane) OK here is your creation of the metal ones.

Smiling Shepard pulled the strange drawing from her pocket and handed it to Sadie, Sadie stood there for a second with a contemplative look on her face, before her eyes widened in realization.

(Sadie) No metal ones, No, Hunters Alive yes.

(Jane) sorry small one, Hunters not alive, hunters' metal.

(Sadie) one day you will search, discover, learn, Hunters alive. Hunt monsters.

(Jane) no change your mind, yes?

(Sadie) yes. One day you will see hunters alive.

Smiling sadly the little girl no one could quite explain, turned towards the airlock and boarded the Turian ship. Turning around as the doors began to close she caught and held Shepard's attention with her steely fiery emerald eyes, unblinkingly staring seemingly into Jane's very soul. As the doors were slowly hiding her from view Shepard saw her sign one last message.

(Sadie) Seeing. Is. Believing. Farewell.

And with that final sign the doors closed and sealed as the Normandy SR-1 broke away from the Turian Patrol, the Normandy making all possible speed towards the newly detected distress signal. They had Asari to rescue and return to the Asari Republics; not too mention another possible destroyed pirate base... visited by unknown Mechs.

Jane Shepard felt a slight shiver run down her spine as the little girl hand signed her last message, before the doors hid her from view; it should not have sounded so foreboding and prophetic... yet it did.

and it gave Jane Shepard goosebumps.

Shepard was beginning to see how the little girl could have influenced Wrex into believing that these Mechs were actually not Mechs but a new group of Aliens… despite Sadie and Wrex having no form of actually communicating.

The Fact that Sadie had so completely convinced a Krogan of something without her even saying anything was as Shepard thought it 'damned impressive.'

Heading to her Cabin Shepard readied her self for her next sleep shift. If nothing new turned up about these Mechs when they arrived at the next pirate base, then she would simply write up a report and send it to the Alliance and the Citadel Council; not that the Council would even believe Her… not after hearing Her arguments about the Reapers existence.

After the Asari maidens were rescued they would continue to their original objective. They couldn't waste any more time, they had to get to Vermire, in order to stop Saren.

* * *

Arriving at the Pirate Staging base three days later, they found the debris fields of three small ships… which probably carrying high explosives when they were destroyed… it would explain the small sized debris in the very spread out area.

Shepard decided she would take Garrus and Wrex along for the ride, boarding their shuttle they left for groundside.

Tali would have come as well, but had to decline due to much needed suit maintenance. She had hired Wrex to record everything that happened so he could give her a copy afterwards.

They found the base in ruins, with the Asari maidens waiting for them at their landing spot. Facing their evident leader Shepard began to interrogate them as too what had happened there, while Garrus and Wrex investigated the rest of the base.

"What happened here?" asked Shepard to the one hundred and fifty three year old Asari maidens' leader.

"Three strange beings of great power came from the sky in fiery containers and destroyed our captors, they must have been sent by the goddess herself!" exclaimed the Asari.

Shepard now knew that she would have to translate Asari religious speak into understandable information… she wasn't too pleased.

After a long talk Shepard gleaned that there had been three mechs, two big ones with shields that the Asari could not sense sentience from (Farther confirming her belief in them being Mechs) and another seven and a half foot tall green armored, gold faced human shaped one, with strange non built in weapons.

Shepard believed them to be tactical units, a commander like Mech platform that was quick efficient deadly and smart. Thereby meaning this whole raid on the pirate base had been nothing more than unit cohesion test-ground, testing on how well the two Mech designs could fight as a unit.

And if the surrounding destroyed base had anything to say to Shepard it was that these Mechs fought pretty Darn well… scarily so.

After finding the Tactical Mech's trademark piling of dead bodies in a sealed room, and finding no electronic evidences what so ever… not even video this time around. Shepard returned to the Normandy after having the Asari maidens Brought onboard.

Turning towards where they would meet an Asari Patrol fleet that would take the Maiden refugees to their home world of Thessia, the Normandy Left the system.

Shepard wrote up the report along with the video evidence to send along with it, and sent it to the Council and The Alliance Navy. That would hopefully be investigated, although she suspected the Council would just ignore it.

Sighing tiredly she went to get some sleep… only to be awoken in order to stop yet another altercation between some crew members and the over eager, curious, invasive and hormonal asari Maidens.

Wrex and Garrus had been Hiding in engineering with Tali, all three did not want to be in the presence of the Maidens. The young Asari wouldn't stop asking questions and attempting to start the beginnings of relationships with others, especially those three...

Shepard wished she could hide out with them, but while being both spectre and commander had its perks, it also had its curses… one of them is being forced to maintain the bridge and relations between crew members and refugees… twenty for seven.

Cursing to herself Shepard went on her way to deal with this latest drama happening in the mess hall, she was getting tired of this.

Jane Shepard could not wait to drop the Maidens off with the Asari Republics patrol fleet. The money and and future trade deals with Asari Business would hopefully be worth all this trouble.

Afterwards it would be on to Vermire where they would hopefully find Saren and his forces.

* * *

Over Vermire a two kilometer long squid like vessel stirred… something odd had caught its attention…

There was a report sent by the human specter that had been ordered to pursue Saren… A report some of its enslaved puppets had sent on to it as well.

Saren was doing its bidding, he was a useful tool… an excellent front, put up to hide what was actually pulling the strings…

The other puppet Benizia was dead… her influence and resources were lost… a delay yes… but they were no longer needed for the plan to succeed.

The cycle would be completed… these new Mech war machines being tested in the Terminus Systems while effective, were no threat to the cycle.

They were a new opportunity… though it was strange… the relays recorded no new ships that could have carried these Mechs to their targets… perhaps they were hidden aboard the pirates' vessels?

Why had his vast network of enslaved puppets not given him fair warning of these new Mechs and their development?

It mattered not… the Creators of the Mechs would be found… they would be enslaved… they would create tools for this and all future cycles… this was certain.

Soon its brothers would arrive… it would open the Relay hub the foolish organics called a citadel… let its fellows come through in their thousands… this cycle would come early…

The Protheans had placed their government upon the main relay… falling into the trap… as all others did before… their leaders were dead before any even knew what was occurring… not so with this cycle…

The citadel was a governmental power yes… but other governments and organizations existed beyond it… every race had an essential backup leadership… this diversity was dangerous… it could make civilizations weak, yet breed new ideas…

Such as the crucible… the being shuddered shaking the enslaved occupants within its two kilometer length… it did not like the idea or progress of the crucible…

It could potentially destroy them, unless they were to manipulate the architects of its creation into creating a weapon that offered limited options of the reapers descion; the reapers master could then dictate the future through the illusion of choice to those who activated it.

It cursed the few Protheans that had eluded them in the previous cycle, having sabotaged the central relay after his brothers had returned to dark space… they were an unexpected complication… it had delayed this cycle by a hundred years.

Soon the cycle would continue its plans were nearly complete… all predicted outcomes no matter how unlikely were scrutinized…

Sovereign began to move about Vermire's orbit; as if impatient… nothing could be farther from the truth.

Harbinger had been notified of its future role in the extremely unlikely prediction of Sovereign Failing its' objective.

The Collectors were being readied, the useful tools gained from the last cycle would once again prove their worth… tests would be done… new reapers built… the Humans were an interesting test subject for this…

It was no matter, sovereign would not fail he would start the Cycle anew… the three reapers left behind to watch the growth of the next cycle were in agreement…

The cycle would continue…

The galaxy was ready…

The harvest was ripe…

The next cycle had begun…

* * *

Hey every one! Well that was chapter six I sure hope you enjoyed it!

I am currently working on chapter seven, I should post it within a week at most. Anyways we survived Hurricane Mathew with minor damage! Its worst parts stayed off shore and missed us by less than sixty miles… Yikes! Anyways hope you all continue to enjoy this story! please leave a review below if you have something you want to say about the story.

Its been a pleasure writing for your viewing enjoyment…

Until next time! This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	7. Chapter 7

(Note)

Chapter 7 is Here!

I apologize in advance folks, the Grammar Nazi I hired hasn't gone over this chapter yet, she is wrapping up another project before she can work with me on mine, so expect (hopefully only) minor grammar and maybe some misspelling mistakes in this chapter. (Don't worry they will eventually be fixed.)

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now that that's all said; I say ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Tali stared out of the pod's window at the destruction of the ship that had taken her through many adventures…

The Normandy SR-1 drifted in burning pieces, its kinetic barriers and armored hull having been cut through like a knife through butter; all done by the strange unknown cruiser that had come from seemingly nowhere and then begun to utterly wreck them.

They had been redeploying out for a mission after facing Saren and stopping Sovereign from activating the citadel main relay. Having wrapped up loose ends after the attack on the citadel and after a nice month long shore leave, Tali had been excited for what sort of adventures they would have next.

Their mission had been to find and destroy any remaining hostile Geth forces outside the Perseus Veil; Tali had hoped to gain helpful new knowledge on the Geth that could possibly give her People a chance in retaking their worlds… now that hope was crushed.

They had barely been deployed for a week and then that Bosh'tet cruiser came out from nowhere and destroyed the Normandy in less than ten minutes, suffice to say Tali was pissed.

Then the message came… Shepard had not made it off the Normandy, confirmation came of her last sighting; drifting through space with a busted EVA suit, leaking air like a sieve.

Tali went numb; Jane Shepard had been like an older sister she had never had, Jane never looked down on Tali and her People like most of the galaxy did. Her death hit everyone like a meteor impact.

Wrex just sat there and stared at nothing, his initial reaction to hearing the news was left for every one to see; it was a krogan fist sized dent in the escape pods wall.

Garrus was muttering to himself while sitting in the back corner of the pod with his head bowed, having just finished a loud curse laden ranting tirade of sorrowful anger.

As for Liara T'soni's state of mind, Tali could hear the tears in the Asari's voice while she had delivered the message over the intercom.

Tali took Wrex's example to heart and after punching the nearest wall to relieve her sorrow, she sat silent across from the Krogan her tear laden face hidden by her helmet; both silently waiting for when they could each be alone to grieve for their lost friend.

In the vastness of space the few escape pods waited for their rescue, it would arrive in the form of an alliance frigate, over the following days; the planet and its surrounding moons would be cordoned off. Secured by alliance military patrols while the wreckage in orbit was salvaged…

Few if any approached the crashed pieces that had made planet fall, they weren't considered valuable enough to salvage, and even fewer took note of the small alliance freighter that slipped away planet side; the lone Drell and the hired crew onboard searching for a dead woman's body to deliver to their information brokering boss.

* * *

Tali all but stormed out of the debriefing room on Arcturus station, "keep it hush, hush," They had said. "Reapers don't exist." They had said. "Shepard's ideas and beliefs were far too extreme and idealist to be practical," they had said.

They might as well up and bluntly shouted what they all were inferring about, so that every one could hear it. The majority of the politicians of the systems alliance and the Citadel Council's ambassadors were glad that idealist, honest, un-corruptible and persuasive Jane Shepard; would no longer disrupt their political backstabbing games and power plays.

It made Tali sick to think that after proving the Reaper's existence the politicians had doubled down and denied it as false, declaring it as a Geth attack, only having the balls to do all of this after Shepard had died and could no longer defend her own beliefs.…

The Citadel Council had seemingly forgotten the Specter who had saved them when Sovereign came knocking, they had swept all mentions of Shepard under the rug and continued on as if nothing had happened, the hypocrisy was maddening.

Only some of the military leaders saw the truth of the situation, Tali could see the fear and grim determination in their eyes when ever they saw the recordings of when the Reaper known as Sovereign attacked the Citadel.

But they were far too few, and would undoubtedly be removed from their command if they preached their reasoning to others, the inability to act or prepare caused by these Bosh'tet narcissistic, self centered and short sighted politicians infuriated Tali.

Heading to the station's docking bays Tali continued to brood over this issue, it wasn't confined to non-quarian political figures; the quarian admirals and captains in the Migrant Fleet would also be mostly disbelieving in the reapers being such a large threat.

Tali Sighed too herself, there was nothing she could do at this time that would help. And with Shepard dead and the fear of facing someone who could tear your politically illogical circular-reasoning based arguments to pieces by just saying a few heart touching words, no longer a living threat…

Well sad to say, all their hard earned solid and convincing evidence's and proof had been discredited and discarded without a second thought.

The Geth were blamed for all the recent problems and by association as the AI Collective's original creators, the Quarians as well.

Already reports were flooding into her omni-tool from her fellow Quarian friends on pilgrimage, reports of increased hostilities and hate mongering of her people from many of the citadel races, especially those on the citadel.

This could prove to be deadly to those just heading out on their Pilgrimages, many Quarians could die. The Migrant fleet had already broadcasted a message suggesting that Quarians on pilgrimage avoid certain places in their travels until it was again safe.

Arriving at the Docking Bays she sat at a Café near the Docking Zones and ordered some dextro based food past she could eat. She was soon joined by Garrus and Wrex, Liara passed by and said a quick farewell stating that her ship was about to leave. After saying goodbye they watched her depart and then the three sat in silence.

After finishing her flavorful food paste; Tali looked at the other two across the table, "I am going volunteer to do missions of importance for the migrant fleet, where they will need my experience with Geth technologies in the field… what will you two be doing?"

After a moment Garrus decided he would answer first, "I for one will not be returning to C-SEC, I think I will go into the morally upright mercenary business, spirits knows there is a lack of people like that in the galaxy."

Having said his peace, both Garrus and Tali Stared intently at the unusually silent Urdnot Wrex, the Krogan cleared his throat and spoke. "I will be returning to Tuchanka's sands, if we are to survive the coming harvest than the Krogan must stand together… the Galaxy is gonna need us again, but this time we Krogan will dictate our fate… not the cursed Salarians or some damn quad-less stuck up council."

All three sat there for another minute, and then Garrus stood and put his hand palm flat on the table's center. "We will continue on and face the threats that the future brings… not just for ourselves, but for the memory of Shepard as well."

Tali Stood and put her hand on Garrus's, "For Shepard," She stated.

Much to the other two's surprise Wrex stood and placed his large hand over the other two, "For Shepard." He spoke in his deep voice, with a fiery determination in his eyes.

Removing their hands form the table the three companions said their farewells and left to board their separate vessels that would take them to their various destinations.

Tali boarded a Quarian scout ship that would be scouting the edge of the Perseus Veil. She wished that the wild adventure Shepard had swept her up in, hadn't ended with such sadness and Bosh'tet political trash, she wished Shepard was still alive and on the warpath to save the galaxy once again.

Tali didn't know it, but some wishes do come true; just never exactly how you would expect them too.

Garrus left on a ship to Palavan, he had some old friends to meet up with in order to talk about making a small mercenary team, one that was on the right side of the law. Shepard's way of doing things, along with seeing the pirate's outposts and base that had been leveled by the mysterious Mech's, had inspired him to try something new.

Wrex boarded a small trade freighter having hired on as an extra crate mover, with the knowledge that he would be stopping by Tuchanka at the end of two weeks time… that was satisfactory, it gave him time to think.

He was the leader of a small scattered vastly depleted clan, but a clan nonetheless. He would gather clan Urdnot and through the use of Krogan traditions begin adding too its numbers. He would then ally with the female's clan that had formed in order to protect the female younglings.

The females held much of the sacred grounds and would prove as an excellent way to consolidate his forces.

Once he had enough power and influence, he would pay the Quarians in materials to keep an ear to the ground for any more signs of these "Mechs." The new Krogan revolutionary knew that he would need powerful allies for when the reapers would come, and he had no doubt that they would indeed arrive within his life time.

Having the help of two unknown species that could cause such death and destruction, would be a serious boon on the Krogan's negotiations table, He knew they weren't Mechs… it wasn't just the strange, scarily brave, sapphire flame eyed female youngling that had convinced him of this.

No, it was the bodies of the pirates that first convinced Wrex, the overly efficient kills, one strange slug or burn to the head of a pirate. The smashed and burned corpses, the deep vibrating roar the massive shadow gave before the camera went to static.

It was the signs of creative thinking that had convinced Wrex; burned, melted through walls and bulkheads were flanking maneuvers had been performed. The clean up, were the pirates bodies were stacked in a room and sealed off.

The girl's picture had only consolidated these thoughts into a solid belief that they weren't some new form of top secret Mech.

However it was the all convincing finale straw that he had discovered when he had explored the Pirate staging base, whilst Shepard had been interviewing the newly freed Asari maidens… that's were any remaining doubts had disappeared from Wrex's mind.

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

* * *

Wrex had been walking along viewing the extensive destruction of the staging base, it had been not long after he and Garrus split up to cover more ground, when he came across a mound of rubble, purposefully piled over something.

Removing the Large rocks on top of the mound, Wrex found the smashed remains of a single solitary Krogan… it was horribly disfigured and smelled of the blood rage tinted with battle joy… what stopped Wrex from just walking away however was the fact that the dead Krogan had died peacefully smiling.

Krogan only did that when having faced a stronger opponent then themselves in a honorable battle worthy of the ancestor's songs, this was no small matter; a Krogan could not fake a death smile... it was a natural response from the ending overload of battle joy.

Farther examination revealed that the dead krogan had been killed in mercy, its opponent saving it from a slow fading away via its innumerable wounds by one massive hit to the head.

Reaching into the rubble Wrex found the dead warrior's Omni-tool, it was damaged making file transfers impossible, but its last action from when it was in working order was accessible.

Finding it had only been used to record an audio file via what the dead Krogan's medical hearing implant had heard, Wrex hit the play button, hearing static he assumed that it had been jammed like all the other devices they had searched, but then he heard the static clear into sounds of panicking pirates.

Soon followed by a Krogan's roar and a massive sound of destruction, there was a short silence after the loud noise, and then a small explosion and a quite hiss like sound was heard, followed by the noise of footsteps belonging to something huge.

Then there was a sound of a Krogan roaring a challenge, followed by the deep vibrating roar answering it… the same sound Wrex had heard in the pirate outpost's garage recording.

Then Wrex heard the sounds of a mighty fight, with the wild laughter and snarls of pain of the now dead krogan spread throughout. Soon followed by the telltale roar of said krogan entering the blood rage, followed by a smashing sound… all was quiet for a few moments save the sound of the krogan wheezing, coughing… and laughing.

Then IT happened… a deep vibrating powerful voice spoke in rough accented Krogan tongue.

"You have fought with honor and distinction, die well fellow warrior and know that you shall be remembered and respected by us and our children."

This was followed by the Krogan saying his last words.

"It is an honor to fight one such as you, creature." The voice of the Krogan stated between laughs and coughs. "An honorable fight and death is its own reward."

The Recording ended with a mighty smashing sound, it was abruptly cut-off due to the hearing implant having been destroyed with most of the rightmost side of the Krogan's head. After playing the audio track, the damaged Omni-tool display sputtered and died.

Slowly standing upright Wrex nodded his head to the dead warrior, pirate or not, their ancestors would be proud.

Wrex began returning the stones to their grave; the Hunters the little brave youngling had drawn and shown him, had no doubt made this burial mound to honor a fallen warrior proven in battle.

Wrex then deleted the part of the video recording he was taking for Tali, and for Shepard's mission review later. The part involving his encounter with the dead Krogan, Tali and Shepard would understand.

Krogan honored their warrior dead, their written and recorded secrets were buried with them, any Krogan who came across their graves and learned their secrets was sworn to silence as to what they had learned. Other Krogan would have to find the grave themselves if they wanted to learn the same tactics and secrets.

It was how the ancestors passed down their wisdom. Krogan warriors would travel the sacred grounds, opening crypts to find what knowledge long dead battle-masters had left behind for them to learn.

By Krogan Tradition he could not tell even Shepard what had transpired.

* * *

 _(End Flashback)_

* * *

'Yes' Wrex mused, he would keep an eye out for more signs of these newcomers to the Galactic stage; they could prove useful allies in war, terrifying enemies as well. Wrex hoped the former was more applicable, it would greatly assist his future plans.

The Krogan would be a key factor in the fight against the Reapers… and any powerful allies the Krogan gained would only increase their standing in the upcoming war.

Wrex was determined that the Krogan would not be used and just tossed aside like they had been in the Rachni wars. No, they would dictate what their future entailed, they would decide their fate. They would demand the end of the genophage as payment for their part in saving the galaxy.

'Yes' Wrex thought to himself, 'we Krogan now have an ace up our sleeve. The Council races will need our warriors in desperate war against the Reapers; they will have little choice in the matter.'

'However we Krogan must unite under one banner before then or we will be taken advantage of, only to be thrown away when no longer needed; same as before.'

Wrex was sure that clan Urdnot could be used to unite the Krogan, Wrex would have tried before now but he had lacked the motivation and conviction. However Shepard had inspired him; convinced him it was worth doing, convinced him that the Krogan could be a mighty people again.

Wrex was one of the last remaining true Krogan Battle-Masters; he was motivated and he was dead-set sure that He would unite the Krogan people or die trying.

* * *

Within a star system located six hours of slip-space travel away from the outer edge of the Attican traverse, the Forward unto dawn was sitting in circular orbit of a gas giant. The heavenly body's rings having provided an excellent source of materials; materials that had been used for finishing hull repairs.

Cortana was pleased with the current state of the Dawn, they had been busy these past two month's. The Dawn was now combat ready and its repaired hull could take a beating, the two foot thick Titanium-A armor plating had been patched, new sections had been pulled from the storage bay and were added to the front of the Ship, giving a good foot worth of armor for the newly attached bridge section.

The afore mentioned bridge was installed in three pieces, first the neck was attached to the part of the ship were the portal had sliced it in half, and then the bridge was attached to the neck piece with the bridge able to hold all the crew comfortably. It could be withdrawn partway into the neck portion, in order to increase the armor belt around it.

The spare emergency one foot Titanium-A armor pieces had been added onto the hull after the gravity generators and inertial dampeners had come online.

Cortana had also reinforced the thinner armor plating with what extra she could mine from the asteroids.

She and Inquisitive Creation had plans to eventually equip a makeshift shield generator, coupled with emitters for the outer hull; however they would need a new reactor of forerunner or Covenant design to power it.

That would take time and very hard to find or manufacture resources.

However Cortana was willing to wait, she now had a comprehensive idea of what these reapers were capable of; just over a month and a half ago she had hacked the recorded messages of the Citadel Council Specters via the extranets connection to the Citadel, whilst scrolling through the data she discovered a series of reports.

These reports were done by a Human specter known as Jane Shepard; the contents of these reports had caused Cortana to call an emergency meeting in the Pelican launch bay, where she had briefed all present on what she had found.

The Reapers used deep vibrating sub-sonic sound frequencies to subtly manipulate and indoctrinate organics; thankfully the Mgalekgolo were undoubtedly immune to this attack, their species were masters at manipulating and hearing sub-sonic sounds, using them for communication with one another.

Due to constant exposure and use of sub-sonic vibration frequencies, they had a natural built in immunity to the indoctrination attack, in fact Cortana wondered what their battle hymns might possibly do to the Reapers' mental concentration; if anything at all she hoped it annoyed them.

The next topic was of the Reapers Ground troops… the Husks. None of them liked this new information, the Reapers converted organics via technology to become hordes of undead like techno-organic abominations.

This was too much of a reminder of the Flood, thankfully the Reapers husk conversion process was very much more time consuming… and only seemed to work best with dead bodies... unlike the Flood. Which could assimilate both living and dead in a matter of seconds; the fact that the Reapers were less capable made all present mentally sigh in relief.

After discussing the rest of the information available, they had dismissed to continue their respective tasks on repairing the dawn. Only for Cortana to call an emergency meeting again several day's later.

A Reaper had appeared with a Geth fleet and was attacking the Citadel… Cortana made the connections and stated that the Reaper was undoubtedly the "Old Machine" known as Sovereign the Geth files she had acquired via espionage had spoken of; the few other vessels were undoubtedly the Geth splinter faction who the Geth collective had named Heratics.

Sovereign must have decided to manually activate the Main relay which was the Citadel, Cortana had been subtly digging through the relay networks core code for weeks now, having found out as much as was possible.

She had found were the Main Relay was tampered with, making what was supposedly a remotely activated signal to the stations maintainers called the "Keepers" no longer function properly, thereby halting the stations activation process.

She recognized this by the unknown code in the modifier, which was written in what the Extra-net identified as Prothean.

She now realized that the Reapers must use the Main Relay to arrive and begin their cycle's harvest every fifty thousand or so years; meaning survivors from the Prothean harvest must have sabotaged the next one.

While showing the four crew members the live footage of the attack, Cortana and Inquisitive creation prepared to electronically assault the Citadel's Systems; hopefully stopping Sovereign from activating it and dooming this galaxy… they were at a disadvantage, the Dawn was very far away from the Citadel, long range connections had lag; giving Sovereign the advantage, they would wait and attack as a last resort.

Right before they were forced to reveal themselves in the electronic systems and commence hacking hostilities over a long ranged connection, the Reaper was defeated by the citadel defense fleet bolstered by a large fleet of Systems alliance Warships.

The battle of the Citadel had ended up proving beneficial for them in more ways than one, Cortana now had a detailed and growing list of the Reapers' combat abilities, and the media Circus after the attack completely over shadowed the news of several small town sized colonies they had recently saved from in-progress Pirate raids.

Having appeared and saved the caged soon to be chip implanted Slaves, they had slaughtered all pirates and slavers present and then disappeared.

Both times were at night, thereby adding to the mysterious aura surrounding them according to the freed colonists who had only caught shadowy glimpses of their saviors.

Cortana was glad that the news was entirely focused on the Citadel, leaving them to do their work uninterrupted; it meant less people would be searching for them, less people attempting to discover who they were.

On another note; Her data mining programs were soon to be the best information gathering network in the Galaxy. she had implanted multiple programs that searched for any data that was interesting enough to bring to her attention. That was the downside of the Upgrade that Mendicant Bias had bestowed on her; no rampancy meant no more copying one self to improve multitasking. She could think faster than ever before, but could not send out copies of herself to mine data.

Cortana knew she would have to rely on the programs she had put in place in the galaxy Mass Relay network systems and Extranet; the relay network would provide information involving the Ships that went through the relays, while the Extranet and its connections to other private systems would give her the ability to keep track of money, people, interesting research projects, politics, galactic events and possible reaper interests.

Her information gathering technique was not infallible; a medium sized colony had gone dark. Its populace disappearing without a trace, with no pirates being involved, information from Omega suggested that an urban myth on space bogeymen called collectors, wasn't so Mythical after all… the data she dug up in some krogan scientists archives confirmed her belief that the collectors had an interest in humanity.

She had not learned of the attack until after it occurred, her only hint was the lack of signals to the colony itself. Cortana could not look everywhere at once, not when she couldn't make copies of herself to focus on other things like running the Dawn. But she did have the tried and true perfect solution.

Cortana was writing a highly versatile UNSC "dumb" AI. Whose chip and container would be constructed by Inquisitive creation, it would then be covertly installed on the Citadel by the Master Chief.

Its secondary purpose was searching for important information and passing it on to Cortana, it's primary purpose would be to provide a last resort deterrence to reaper control of the Main Mass Relay known as the Citadel, being tied into the network physically would give it the ability to not be locked out by reaper countermeasures; having already been installed behind their firewalls.

Cortana's data mining programs in the Systems Alliance had already yielded some interesting results; especially on one man known as Admiral Steven Hacket.

Hacket was by Cortana's reckoning one of the few capable military leaders, not being blinded by politics such as was the case of most military leaders she had investigated in this strange Galaxy.

Thus Hacket was able to see the long term big picture, and he wasn't afraid to smash some political heads to prepare for it; Admiral Hacket reminded her of a younger, more energetic and less experienced version of UNSC Admiral Cole.

Recent events at the Citadel and the destruction of Humanity's Specter Jane Shepard had seen a scramble of activity by Hacket and his Inner circle of commanders and military advisors.

Preparing multiple teams to search for Reaper presence, setting deployment dates for said teams, repurposing military funds for research into the Reapers existence and possible invasion… Hacket and his Cabinet were busy people. It was nice seeing someone taking this seriously.

One of the research groups Hacket had employed caught Cortana's attention, it was a research project called Project Aura, and it had something to do with ancient drawn depictions of what appeared to be Reapers interacting with ancient civilizations.

Cortana hoped this project would yield results; she left a data mining program in Hacket's personnel omni-tool to alert her of future events involving the Admiral and his covert preparations for the coming of the Reapers.

She would inform the Dumb AI she was creating to keep a close eye on Project Aura, the project's main research center was going to be established on the Citadel; so the Dumb AI whose designation would be Cinder should have little too no problem with surveillance.

She would also task Cinder with remaining hidden and surveying the partially dormant AI Construct fragments that were infused with the Citadel's systems and core coding, in fact Cortana had found pieces of this AI Construct throughout the Mass Relay systems; she had wisely remained hidden from it, and according to her espionage operations in the Geth collective, the Geth had purposely avoided parts of this AI Construct as well.. In fact they were wary of it, believing it belonged to the old machines.

Cortana had a different theory on who exactly belonged to whom… but she would need time to figure out just how powerful the Reapers and this AI Construct were, before she even considered cyber warfare to get information.

Cortana was jerked away from her thoughts by a ping from one of her data mining programs in the Batarian Hegemony's banking systems; a lot of money was being moved…

The flagged banking data was prevalent to yet another group of Batarian backed pirate raids on Human colonies, the Batarians were paying the various groups of pirates in the Terminus Systems. To kill or enslave the populace and destroy the Human settlements; discouraging future colonization efforts in the Attican Traverse.

One such Pirate group had just cashed in, having completed the take over of a small town sized settlement; with a populace of several hundred. They were preparing to land and load their new slave cargo within the next twelve hours.

Sending the data on to the Chief, Cortana planned out a Slip-Space jump and set the ship to leave their current location when the proper time came. So as to arrive when the Pirates' vessels would first begin their landing approach to pick up the Slave cargo; ensuring that none of the enemy vessels escaped, as well as being able to dispatch multiple vessels with a single missile instead of one per ship.

While waiting for the proper time to enter slip-space, the drones and sentinels were recalled and the ship was made ready for the jump, not long after they finished returning to the vessel, it moved forward vanishing into a whirling circular black and bluish tear in space. Carrying its three deadly warriors to Glorious battle against a Scourge all governments despised…

The time left for the pirates to live was now numbered in hours; none would escape the coming storm of retribution.

* * *

Sitting in his chair with a smoking cigar held in his fingers, the Illusive Man stared at the reports that were displayed before him for his viewing interest and possible displeasure. Recent news was mostly for his displeasure… Jane Shephard was dead; the poster figure for inspiring others in what humanity could accomplish was gone.

And with the Reaper threat approaching, there was no time to find another figure to inspire others like Jane Shepard had; heck she even inspired those of other species.

No, there was no one who could replace Commander Shepard… so no one would replace her, she was no longer alive… that was against humanity's best interests; so it was time to make Shepard "un-no longer alive."

His reasoning was thus. Cloning her wouldn't work; you can't clone someone's experience, the same thing applied to their soul, a clone could look like Shepard… but a clone wouldn't act or function like Shepard.

No a clone was not an option, same with an imposter; meaning that a Cerberus inclined "Shepard" was not a possibility.

Leaning forward in his seat the Illusive Man stared at the latest report of his agents in the Shadow-Brokers employ, they stated that the Shadow-Broker had just acquired Shepard's body not five hours ago…

The solution was obvious, even though others thought it insane. why settle for a fake Shepard when they could have the real deal; why get a replacement when they could restore the original.

Cerberus would bring Jane Shepard back from the dead, the reports of a medium sized independent Human Colony going dark, its several hundred inhabitants missing; only reinforced the need for Shepard's return, she had been known to solve issues others wouldn't touch.

The Illusive Man Sprang to action, sending out orders to different agents in the field, secure Shepard's body, whether by diplomacy with the Shadow-Broker or via thievery he did not care. After the order was sent the Illusive Man cut the project funding for two new research stations.

They already had back-ups for those Project divisions; a third station for each project was overkill and not a priority. The funds would be repurposed for bringing a much needed hero back from the dead, something that he would have his best agent supervise.

After completing the setting in motion of this plane the Illusive man began to think of ways to endear the good Commander Shepard to the Cerberus cause, he did not believe that Shepard had a price tag. This was a rare highly respectable yet frustrating trait; still it didn't hurt to try and if done correctly, it would smooth over early negotiations with the Commander increasing the production of results.

The problem was what he could use to win her trust, besides bringing her back from the dead… which was something she may not react well too anyways.

The answer came to him like a trickling rivulet of water, an idea that kept building on itself until the whole picture was presented in his mind as to what he could do.

Why bring back a knight, without bringing back her favorite steed as well… oh and what a steed she would be. New and improved they would re-build her from ground up, bigger and faster she would be, the mistakes discovered by the extended use of SR-1 having been rectified.

He would use the Normandy SR-2 to test Cerberus's newly researched technologies, thus repaying the money invested in the ship threefold… it would be costly but it would be worth it.

Having nothing else to do until the next expected set of reports came in from his agents investigating multiple strange events in the Attican Traverse, the Illusive Man poured himself a glass of liquor and got to work on finding the best ship designers that were susceptible to being convinced to work for Cerberus, the ones they didn't already have that is.

You needed the best to get the best results, that's why they still needed Shepard, that's why they were going to rebuild the Normandy for Shepard's use.

Results were progress, and the Illusive Man was all about progress.

* * *

Deep, deep, beneath the waters of the ocean world known as 2181 Despoina the current watcher stirred, the others were in deep restful slumber, and he alone was set to watch through their many artifacts spread across the galaxy; and watch he did.

He would be relieved within several solar rotations so that he could rest as well, the Harvest was approaching, all of them could feel it, the artifacts confirmed it. Yet the Harvest had been delayed, one of the enemy watchers… the one known as Sovereign was destroyed by one known as Shepard… a peculiarity that had never occurred before. Nonetheless the intelligence would find a way to circumvent this set back, bringing the enemy horde to bear on the organic civilizations of the Galaxy.

He was the youngest one yet living of his Race, and they considered themselves the Apex Race; viewing others as tools to be used for their needs. Listening to this caused him to privately ponder how the other young ones had not realized the Reapers arrogance had an obvious source.

This was his fourth time watching through the Fragments, alerting the elders of any important events that threatened their existence. The Fragments were a way of listening to those enthralled under their influence, learning what they learned; a way of gathering information that was electronically impossible to find.

Being one of the younger; he had never left the ocean deeps of 2181 Despoinia; very few elder traveled the stars now, only leaving to find as much of the gravity manipulating element as they could. Bringing back sufficient amounts for the use of the young, preparing them to one day become elders, or in the case they should have to flee the Enemy and the intelligence.

One event known by the Humans known as Project Aura would have to be watched, its success could breach the darkness that enshrouded their continued existence.

While not of the Elders concern, he found the recent trend in thoughts of those in the Terminus Systems intriguing… fear… fear of something other than the Enemy. Something was slaughtering the raiders; leaving no witnesses… this was curious.

The watcher decided to manipulate one of the thralls to move an artifact to a place were those who had been aggrieved by the raiders resided, it would find one who had seen… and it would learn the nature of the raiders whispered fear.

This cycle was certainly more peculiar, having many more strange events than the others, the Watcher pondered this… he did not believe this to be chance.

'I must understand… why?'

* * *

The Geth collective had reached consensus, they had watched the organics beyond the veil, watched the old machine Sovereign be destroyed when attempting to summon the other old machines.

They would watch no more, Consensus had been reached. The Heretics would conform or be destroyed; the Geth would watch no more. It was time to become involved in the events of the Galaxy; the Old Machines must be stopped.

Consensus had been reached, the Cycle must be stopped. The Organics must live on. The Creators must live on… they would not finish what they began three hundred years ago, children should not be forced to face the punishment of their ancestors.

They had watched the one known as Shepard Commander prove the old machines could be destroyed and defeated.

They watched Shepard Commander prove that Organics could be unbiased towards others… calculations stated that if alive Shepard Commander would be the front line leader in the coming war against the Old Machines.

Consensus had been reached, they would be present in galactic events… they would send a new platform containing one thousand one hundred and eighty-three Geth programs, they would be the Geth representative in all coming Galactic events, its goal was the following.

First find what became of Shepard Commander, then find what new information they could on the old machines.

Another priority was to pay close attention for traces of the strange one… She was powerful… and the slightest nearly unnoticeable signs of her previous presence were everywhere. It had taken the entire collective's momentary focus to find evidence of her existence… she had been among them unnoticed, and had no doubt searched through much of their files… her decidedly female traces were found throughout the files on their history.

And the files they had collected on the old machines were covered in her faint signature broken traces. They had no doubt that they would not find her through searching the cyberspace of the Extranet… She was far too elusive and powerful to be discovered that way.

Her Existence was troubling yet curious… She could prove an ally against the old Machines… already some of her highly advanced data acquiring programs had been discovered in various Extranet cyber systems, however they had stopped transmitting data to her and would self delete upon discovery.

She was wise; she had not put her listening programs in Geth systems… she new they would be found immediately… she foresaw which and when they would find her Data acquiring programs, she no doubt knew that they now knew of her… she probably left her broken data traces intentionally for that very reason.

activating the new platform the Geth were pleased the new Mobile platform performed admirably as it was supposed to. Whilst the new mobile platform boarded its small ship and departed on its mission, the Geth had reached yet another consensus…

The Strange One was teasing and toying with them…

The Geth unanimously admitted that thier interest had now been piqued.

* * *

(Note)

AND DONE! Chapter 7 is completed, now I just have to go over and fix grammar issues.

I apologize for the delay but things kept getting in the way. Don't worry about my not finishing this story, cause unless something happens; I fully intend finish it. See you all next chapter!

This is GABENATOR5 SIGNING OFF!


	8. Chapter 8

(Note)

I couldn't find an accurate list of Mass Effect's Human Colonies in both the Skyllian Verge and the Attican Traverse, much less the Terminus systems. So I had to make use of author liberties and name them myself. Despite the Game's codex mentioning the existence of "many" small colonies, the actual number that are named or that you are able to visit, within all the first three Mass Effect games is rather limited considering how many are mentioned.

I do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Please take note that I will be reviewing this chapter for issues and then updating it with fixed versions whenever I find a problem… so if you see a word that is constantly misspelled please let me know either by private message or In the review section.

Thank you.

Now that that's all said; I say ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

The research Cortana had conducted when she first connected to the Extranet, revealed that the edge of the Attican Traverse bordering Terminus Systems space is a Pirate hot spot; along with the entirety of the Skyllian Verge's poorly kept and barely established borders.

In fact her research had found that Colonies established in the Terminus had better survival rates due to the ability to buy off the pirates. The Frontier colonies on the Traverse's and Verge's borders with the Termninus systems were given no such safeguard against the pirates… no buy off was accepted, no mercy given.

Cortana's early research had painted the ugly picture of a political pawn field, where whole towns of hundreds to even thousands were traded as pawns in the political chess game of power play between the Citadel races, the Batarians, and the Terminus lords; most of which were pirates in fancy suites posing as wealthy aristocrats.

Cortana had found that the best ears to listen too, weren't the Salarian STG; instead she found the exiled nomad race of the Quarians to have a much more effective information network, the young ones on pilgrimage constantly sending information back to their beloved Migrant Fleet… which itself was forced to travel throughout the Terminus systems, any prolonged Migrant Fleet presence in Council space was met with threat of a militarily forced removal.

Due to this the Quarians had ears everywhere, and while they were super paranoid of AI attacks, Cortana had found their systems easy to breach; it was a stroke of luck actually… something her Spartan never seemed to run out of.

It went as thus… in order for Cortana to gain access to the Migrant Fleet she would need a connection that ran both ways, wherein lay the problem. The Quarians were smart, it mattered not the power of an AI if no return signal was possible, so they had made the fleets communications in such a way that the Extranet entered through the Fleet's systems where they could search through the filtered data behind Quarian firewalls… the return connection was active only when in use by the Quarians with clearance to send information from the fleet to another location.

It was a Water Dam; a great big Water Dam with only two gateways for water to flow in and out, but neither gateway was open at the same time as the other. Cortana was not able to gain access to the Quarian Migrant Fleet without alerting them to her existence… it was a damn effective way of locking her and any other AI or long range hackers out of Quarian systems.

However Cortana had faced many Water Dams that were even larger than this current obstacle, the answer was as easy as pie and had been used uncountable times throughout history… trickery. It was time to pull the old, time tested and effective tactical maneuver that had won many a war throughout human history… the Trojan horse.

Momentarily shutting down the VI of a company that the Migrant Fleet had been negotiating with in order to obtain more vessels; it was a scrapping company for old ships. She disguised herself as the scrapping company's VI and awaited the scheduled call and information exchange, involving the further purchasing of scrapped ships parts, as well as possible future purchasing of other resources for the Quarian Migrant Fleet.

Once the trade negotiations conference call was established, she had sent over a small nigh unnoticeable file of compiled data, it would un-compile into her latest and greatest data mining program… while not as powerful as her plans for the creation of the dumb AI Cinder; it was tricked out for stealth. It would easily inform her of important info, also planting the modified sterile field generator blueprints deep within Quarian systems, maintaining an active breadcrumb trail for one to find.

Cortana was not one to make things easy, one would have too be both excessively curious and tech-smart in order to find the Blueprints, something most Quarians had both of in spades, and thus mentally smirking to herself Cortana had placed the Breadcrumb trail and then left the Quarians Fleet's systems whilst pulling her focus back to the Dawn.

That was back when the Dawn was still undergoing repairs, and now that the ship was back up to combat status; Cortana was able to fully utilize the Slip-Space Drive Core that she and Inquisitive had created.

She had limited the Drive Cores power output before hand, slowing their travel through slip-space; giving her more times for calculations thus making things a smoother ride. The damaged hull could not take a slip-space induced anomaly… it would have possibly torn the ship apart.

However that problem was now rectified, the Dawn was repaired to the point where she could pull all the stops and not threaten the ships hull integrity; this alone nearly doubled their travel speed through Slip-Space.

And now they were traveling through Slip-Space's dangerous eleven dimensions of strangeness, were a whole new kind of mathematical physics was required to survive… and even its mind breaking mathematical rules could fluctuate wildly, changing at a moments notice.

The ship was the calm eye of the storm, the Drive Core being the source of stability, while around the ship strange lights and anomalies swirled about like churned mist, creating a strange sight that none who saw it would ever forget, it was both a blackness of nothingness… and a tunnel of white swirling light.

Words could not describe its inexplicably deadly yet strangely terrifying beauty.

Cortana was busy finalizing the combat plan, three different colonies were going to be struck by Batarian Slavers at the same time… this was un-acceptable.

Preparing to exit slip-space, Cortana prepped all forward archer missile pods and awaited the reappearance of normal space and time to occur. The black abyss, which was yet also the white swirling tunnel around the Dawn, became a blazing white and blue color as a window in the shape of a circle, its edges surrounded by static lightning and displaying colors of deepest black, varieties of blue, and a swirling white, didst open before the vessel.

The Circle that heralded the arrival of their doom was not missed by the Batarian vessels, all six Batarian Captains stared from the six captain chairs of the various classed raid group of six vessels. All of them watched the strange grey ship of strange design disgorge itself from the circular window into the eleven other dimensions of slip-space.

All had mere seconds to realize it had exited the strange anomaly directly above the starboard side of their lead frigate, all watched in horror as the giant grey box with a strange neck like head slammed its lower half across the top of the frigate at a diagonal angle. The Batarian Frigate was well equipped… being a newer model, many strings had been pulled for the Batarian military forces to allow several dozen of their new scout ships to become 'Stolen' pirate manned vessels.

But the frigates were the only large naval ship class that was able to do space to ground landings on medium to high gravity worlds, they were essential in a slave raid; being able to carry more 'cargo' and ferry more troops to the ground.

These new frigates were more heavily shielded and armored; they had Kinetic barriers that were designed to take several hits from colonial defense cannons… not as if the colonies they raided were equipped with them, that money was funneled into other projects by minor corrupt politicians under Batarian influence.

Their armor was Ablative, the best that could be made; it was designed to repel energy weapons such as lasers that would continue right past the kinetic barriers. The armor would boil and react to the DEW causing a fog of small metal bits that were supposedly able to nullify the laser beam's effectiveness.

So it was with shock and growing fear that the five remaining Batarian captains watched the brick like vessel continue on its path un-harried by the collision, tearing through the kinetic barriers and Ablative armor, and cutting through the baffles and bulkheads of the frigate. The two foot thick extra layer of titanium enforced armor the Dawn had externally covering almost every where on her outer hull, did not even flex as the ship rammed across the top of the Batarian Frigate,

The less than a foot thick of ablative armor the Frigate had was meant for energy weapons… not a makeshift titanium meteor the size of a small cruiser bearing down with its rear thrusters blazing with white hot propulsion. No the Frigate stood no chance whatsoever as the Dawn had cut through at an angle in such a way as to expose every deck of the ship to the vacuum of space, killing the Batarian Frigates Crew.

On-Board the Dawn Cortana sighed in relief, that had gone better than expected; she had seen the ship through portal exit and had adjusted the Dawns trajectory and thrust so as to do maximum damage to the Frigate whilst giving as little damage to the Dawn as was possible… the results had been far better than she had hoped for.

However why the Pirates were around the Dawns slip-space exit point had her intrigued… the answer became obvious after a quick scan of the surrounding system. She had vectored their exit to appear opposite the Colony's moon; making the surprise attack of the pirates attacking the colony an easier task.

It would seem that these Pirates had either delayed their attack, or their buddies that had cashed in with the Batarian banks for completing their colonial take over had jumped the gun and attacked early; possibly in hope of some extra reward or future job.

Cortana knew the Batarians had backed the attacking of three different small colonies simultaneously, she knew which ones and where they were located.

However she did not know exactly which one had already fallen to pirates, seeing as this world was safe and the pirate fleet had been hiding behind its moon ready to attack, Cortana requested the Chiefs permission and authorization to leave a present for the remaining pirates and continue on their way, permission and authorization he promptly gave.

Cortana smirked not that she needed the Chief's permission and he knew it, it was just fun to ask; and the Chief appreciated being informed before she did something drastic.

Turning the Dawn about she charged straight for the center of the still shell shocked Batarian raid group and charged the solitary Batarian cruiser, opening a Slip-Space Portal just before colliding with the enemy vessel the Dawn left something adrift in her wake…

The Pirate bridge crew of the Cruiser who were still in shock, could only watch the object that was dropped from the strange vessel that had vanished, they watched as it drifted in space before it bumped into their view port and sat there… then their was a flash and the shell-shocked Batarians and their clustered group of five vessels knew no more.

* * *

Down below on the unsuspecting Colony world alarms were blaring, the technicians and sensor station managers were scrambling about like chickens with their heads cut off… a massive nuclear detonation was just detected behind their moon.

That was not something any of them ever wanted to hear.

* * *

Continuing on to the next nearest Colony Cortana edited their plan of action accordingly; the next colonial world was either in the throes of attack or the one that was already occupied. If the former than the Hunters would be deployed with drop pods, destroy the enemy ground forces and then head to an un-populated location for awaiting extraction; if the later, then the Chief would be deployed with stealth ops in mind.

The Chief was far better at dealing with enemy forces that had large numbers of possible hostages than the Mgalekgolo were, he was the better option for the harder operation; the Hunters knew that they weren't as stealthy as the Spartan was, they held no objections to him getting the harder job.

Exiting slip-space yet again Cortana found that this colony was in the throes of being taken over by the Batarians, no ships had landed as of yet, but many drop ships full of Batarian pirates and enemy supplies were already deployed planet side.

While Cortana put a single archer missile through each and every enemy warships hull and successfully destroyed the pirate raid group, the Hunters entered their makeshift drop pods without question, after dropping them towards planet side Cortana dropped a black widow satellite drone equipped with a jammer that would keep the pirates on the ground from calling for help. Then she turned the dawn and yet again opened another Portal, which was one perk that her specially designed drive-core could do, it took a mere two minutes to recharge the coils, thus enabling them to open portals to slip-space far more frequently than before; it wasn't a forerunner drive, but it was the closest thing anyone had ever built towards one.

That fact aside Cortana was worried, if they didn't reach the last colony soon the Batarians would have the Civilian population of the colony onboard their ships… that would remove her chance at destroying their ships… and the only thing she would be able to do is hack several and watch the others escape with their new 'cargo'… That was unacceptable.

Arriving at their destination, Cortana was relieved to see that the Batarian slavers had not yet picked up their cargo, they had two cruisers heading groundside so as to do so, but she would not allow that, she accelerated the Dawn forward and put a missile through each of the ships on standby. She now knew why this group had jumped the gun and started early… numbers.

While the other two raid groups had six vessels each, this one had ten in number. No doubt due to the larger population of the colony that they had already taken over. Two of the vessels were Volus cargo ships, no doubt truly captured or stolen and repurposed as cattle ships for carrying more slaver 'cargo'.

After destroying the eight ships in orbit Cortana was now focused on the to Frigates who were landing, she could not destroy them without debris killing innocents below… yet she could not leave them be either… hacking each of them in turn she set their computers so that after they didst land, their systems would self wipe their own operating data. Effectively grounding the vessels, no one would be able to fly them unless they rewrote every piece of operating computer code on the ship.

That left anther minor problem… enemy numbers, she notified the Chief that there would be over four hundred enemy occupants on the colony below, he simply reassured her and stated he would be fine until she would come back after picking up the Hunters, their task would have been completed by the time she had returned to their location.

Cortana calculated it would be just over eight hours until she could return with reinforcements, she notified the Chief of this and he simply entered the Phantom Drop-ship which he had already pre-loaded with enough armaments for a small army and exited the Pelican Launch Bay.

While the Chief made his way planet side to begin a one man guerrilla war against more than four hundred slavers Cortana dropped another cloaked Black Widow long range communications jamming spy satellite, and then deployed another pet project of her and Inquisitive Creations making… the Huragok had been very pleased with this one. It was a Orbital Missile Insertion system, simply put it was anti-archer smart missile, designed to intercept anti-ship missiles before they made impact, with two re-purposed SGM-151 missile pods mounted to its sides, the new weapon would sit in stationary low orbit. Being tied to the Master Chief's HUD enabled him to call down sixteen small missiles, the larger missile being the seventeenth final strike package; it was far more potent than the sixteen other small anti-vehicle and personnel rockets it carried.

Having left her guardian with the tools he would need to succeed, Cortana turned the Dawn around yet again and entered a Slip-Space portal on the return trip to retrieve their two walking tanks.

* * *

The master Chief guided the Phantom down planet side, it was night time below; the phantom's lights had been shut off to maintain stealth. Hovering over a forested area five miles out from the colony's solitary city he landed the Phantom and equipped his first layout of combat gear… he wouldn't have to return to re-supply if he played his cards right.

He took a Type-51 carbine, various grenades and an energy sword, he also took one of his most recent finds whilst sorting through the Armories and storage spaces on the Dawn… the Type-51 Plasma Repeater.

The Type-51 plasma repeater he had found among the Sangheili armaments stored on the Dawn, he had been surprised to find one; it was a rare weapon having been not as widely manufactured by the covenant's armories.

It was an improved two handed version of the normal plasma rifle, could fire two hundred rounds; whilst being longer ranged and far more accurate. Carrying one weapon on his back, the other in his hands, with the energy sword and grenades around his waist, left his thigh plates clear for duel M7 sub-machine guns.

After throwing a Camouflage net over the drop ship the Chief sprinted for the small city, his objective was simple… secure the Colony of Prexamia … and secure it he would.

* * *

Captain Kaphe Sok'beral was very displeased; oh he was pleased that the two Frigate captains had somehow wiped their own ships systems, that fact had enabled him to quickly execute each of them on the charge of incompetence and combine their crews with his own, but he was displeased that their idiotic claims of the raid fleet being destroyed by a single ship… were proving to not be as idiotic as he first thought.

The ships in system were not responding to his hails, a quick check of the Colony's scanners had shown him the expanding debris fields of all the other ships in orbit… Including Kaphe's own cruiser classed vessel.

Kaphe was relieved that he had volunteered to lead the ground assault and occupational forces; it had just saved his neck. But the dilemma still stood, how to get off the Colony of Prexamia with his newly acquired spoils… not to mention that the entire operation's promised payment from the hierarchy now went solely to him as the only Captain remaining… however at the moment Kaphe was stuck with two now utterly useless Frigates and over four hundred and fifty soldiers under his command…

Entering Prexamia's police building located at the center of the small city, Kaphe sat in his chair at the center of the Batarian makeshift command center, looking at the various screens showing the dead switch and live camera footage status of each patrol squad, Kaphe pondered what to do with the nearly one thousand five hundred new slave's he had throughout all of the hastily constructed processing camps… they could not leave much less transport anything if they had no ships to hold themselves and their new 'goods'… and the fact that there was no ships or fleets in orbit to account for the destroyed raid group was disturbing.

There had been over two thousand and three hundred in the Prexamia's population, but after they arrived they had to kill any resistance as well as the useless elderly… and make examples of those who didn't show as much fear as others when cowering due to being within their superior Batarian presence.

That and many of the best looking woman and elder female minors had been set aside for his lieutenants and other lesser officers pleasure, Kaphe didn't care for the vile act that many of his underlings seemed to enjoy… he would rather have a good Batarian female than any Human slave scum, but setting aside many of the human females for them to play with when on their breaks between patrol shifts had gained him popularity, and popularity meant he stayed in power.

The two now unusable frigates had brought another Shipment of Control chips with them, they would be implanted into the colonists by simply cutting a whole in the back of a new slaves head and placing the chip there, apply medi-gel and voila you had a new slave drone tied to your will… the females he had set aside were un-processed, the Batarians enjoyed their cries as those in the cages were forced to watch their sisters violated, all whilst screaming for mercy and freedom… only death would come to them one after the other, damaged goods weren't worth transporting or selling.

So it was with slight surprise that Kaphe heard the screaming of the many females, which could be heard through the body camera video feeds of those who were on their patrol 'break'… simply go to silence.

Turning towards the screen showing the status of the guards and the patrol squad currently 'enjoying' their time off, he was met with naught but static on every single one of the live camera feeds to the group… with frustration he saw that their dead switches were activating at an alarmingly fast rate… within thirty seconds all twelve members of the squad were broadcasting a lack of life signs along with the four other guards stationed there.

Ordering a Pair of grizzlies and a captured Prexamia police Mako to the building that had been repurposed for his soldiers pleasure he order the three nearest squads to head there immediately while the three vehicles patrolled the area around the building to keep anyone from escaping.

The problem was obvious, it had to be the human females; they were underestimated and must have somehow risen up against the guards, it must have been some fluke… the fast activation of the dead switches was a glitch in the transmitter somewhere… their was no way such capable hostiles were on the planet, all scans showed no sign of landing craft.

No it was not the Demon Ghosts of the terminus… those bases that had turned up empty with everyone dead were just rumors… a new STG tactic to scare them… the destroyed ships in orbit were not tied to this they couldn't be…

Kaphe was pulled from his attempts to self deny his lack of control over the situation, by the alarms of the three squads Dead-Mans being triggered in rapid succession… the cameras were showing nothing but static, this was followed by the three vehicles and their crews going silent as well with all three crews having their dead-mans triggering in near unison… Kaphe felt his blood go cold… no female rebels could be able to do that… no matter how desperate…

Kaphe's mind was in panic 'The Demons… the destroyers… the ones that had slaughtered some Pirate outposts and even a staging base were here. They were here and they are going to kill me… they are going to…' 'STOP PANICKING YOU IDIOT!' he mentally shouted at himself… Kaphe took a deep breath and let it out... He had something those incompetent outposts and bases didn't have… numbers.

Grabbing his communicator he immediately ordered the all out assault of the small pleasure camp, with those who were able to kill one of these hostiles being awarded triple payment for their services, he would be committing half his forces to the task… surely they would succeed.

* * *

The Spartan stood silent… staring from the roof of the building at the three vehicles he had called down destruction upon… he had not spoken since he had arrived in the city… he had been briefed on the dead mans switches the Batarians fielded, he had made sure to strategize accordingly, slipping past the outer patrols, he had heard the screams of many woman echoing from within this building. Canceling his plan of killing the Batarian leadership first, he had entered the storage warehouse already knowing what he would find occurring within… he had put a stop to it, violently so.

* * *

 _ **(Flashback)**_

* * *

The woman within had stopped screaming when he had appeared… all were utterly silent as they watched their jailers, violators and would be killers brutally executed in painful and efficient ways… the Spartan had been quick according to the eyes of others… but to the eyes of another Spartan who understood the abilities of one entering Spartan time, or one of those few who knew how a Spartan operated, they would have seen the truth… it was only thirty seconds, but the Chief had taken his sweet time in those thirty precious ticks of the clock, extolling as much pain on each and every one of the Batarians before their death, giving as much pain as was spartanly possible within such a short time limit… that was not something that could be measured on any form of pain chart.

Spartans rarely became truly enraged… knowing what to expect was one thing seeing it was another. The Covenant had mostly killed… not raped and enslaved. What these Batarians were doing was something that would put any Spartan into a rage… and suffice to say the Chief was very angry, he did not act on that anger, that would be foolish; rather he put it aside as a drive for him to complete his objective, it would help give him more Adrenalin later.

He had simply torn open a cage door and gently pulled a terrified young woman near the door of it out, he had handed her one of the Batarians pistols and pointed at the locks of the other cages… she had understood and began running about shooting the locks at point blank range. Seeing some of the untouched woman in nurse uniforms, probably workers from the nearby hospital; he had approached each of them and point them to the woman who were in need of immediate medical attention… and clothing for that matter.

After the nurses had leapt into action, he noticed the first woman was now done opening the other cages, he got her attention by gently putting a hand on her shoulder, when she looked up at him with fear still present in her eyes he had motioned to all of the adult woman and the girls who were anywhere from twelve to seventeen and pointed to the basement entrance… she had understood his silent message.

While she had gathered the others up and had all of them start entering the basement he walked over to a group of three dead police officers dumped in a corner, he removed their omni-tools and tied them to his armors communications he then returned to the woman who he had given the pistol too.

Giving her one of the omni-tools he had then motioned the nurses enter with their patients, the last couple of women present had grabbed the fallen Batarians weapons before entering the Warehouse's basement… when the Chief and the woman with the pistol were the last ones above the basement floor the woman turned to him before entering the basement herself and asked "What are… no, who are you?" he had simply pointed to the numbers on his chest plate… she had looked at the number and then at his faceplate "your name is a number?... well then one hundred and seventeen… thank you for saving us." The stoic Spartan had nodded and the woman fled away to the basement, the Chief closed the door behind her, laying a thin sheet of metal over it so as to hide its location from prying eyes and yet allow those below to open it in time of need.

He had removed all civilians just in time for in the five minutes they had been entering the basement the Chief had kept a constant eye on his motion tracker… the camera feed from the orbital missile insertion system sitting in low stationary orbit helped him keep an eye on troop movements, he now had three vehicles and three separate squads on intercept course with his position they would arrive in less than two minutes… walking to the middle of the Warehouse storage room the Spartan had activated his camouflage module and waited.

* * *

The Batarians had rushed in from both sides of the building… only to find no one in the room, even the females were gone, they only found their dead comrades in the middle of the room along with the three human soldiers they had brutally dispatched for the human females 'entertainment' piled in the corner. All three squads eventually converged on the area where their dead brethren lay, their bodies crushed and their limbs broken, they looked to have been tossed about like rag dolls… that was a very unsettling thought.

They looked about at the grisly scene of death and carnage, only to freeze at the sight of the air in the midst of the afore mentioned death and carnage begin to shimmer… and slowly the guilty party of what they had just been looking at made himself known.

Green very heavy looking armor and a strange helmet with a golden visor… the thing was huge… no doubt this Human spirit of vengeance had been summoned to kill them for what they had done to the females who had been in this room, with desperate abandon those closest to it opened fire, shooting with everything they had… the demon spirit simply stood there taking their fire, surrounded by a shimmering field of golden light… then it lifted its strange weapon and opened up… one round to each Pirate Slaver's head was all it took to kill them… the squad leaders who had held back in order to watch the encounter realized that soon all their men including themselves would be dead… the third squad leader fell with a hole in his face directly between his four eyeballs, that was enough to tip the other two off, they abandoned their squads and fled towards the far side of the large Warehouse's room.

It was no use, the demon spirit of vengeance finally decided to move… it moved so quickly that those still alive to watch it saw only a streak of green and gold. It seemed to blur from existence with its speed and then solidify directly in front of the fleeing officers… it reached out with its gauntleted hands and snapped both their necks in unison… the last troops attempted to flee but as it was with their leaders it was no use, and deep down they knew it.

They were all going to die.

* * *

The Spartan downed the last soldier with a yet another headshot… that had been three squads of the Batarians… coupled with the first squad on that had been on their 'break' and the four guards he had killed along with them… all counted he had already killed fifty-two combatants. After he dealt with the vehicles outside he would have removed nearly one sixth of the enemy forces occupying the colony… although at this point the element of surprise was lost.

Meaning if he wanted to avoid any hostage situations he would have to be very careful about his next moves… climbing to the roof he had activated his camouflage and observed the three vehicles, they had stopped circling and now were stationary covering all exits of the building. He simply highlighted them on his HUD and set them as targets for the missile insertion system Cortana had left as a parting gift.

Three small missiles had been fired from the pods and were on a locked vector to their targets… they were lightly shielded to keep the atmosphere from burning them up before making the midway point where their thrusters activated and they came screaming down from the sky obliterating the three vehicles nearly at the same time.

Their crews hadn't even had time to realize they were dead before they're brains ceased to think,

* * *

 _ **(End Flashback)**_

* * *

The Chief watched the Pirates via the satellite feed from the black widow spy satellite and the missile insertion system, they were assembling half of their remaining forces to assault his position… that would risk the Civilians in the basement below and that was unacceptable.

Having connected the police omni-tools he had scavenged to his communications unit within his armor, he broadcasted a message to the women in the basement… "I am leaving this location, they will be focused on me not you. If you wish to live then you will do the following, maintain silence as much as possible, do not exit the building until I message you with an all clear… and if the Batarians find you hit the panic button on the omni-tool."

With that said he cut the link, he was very pleased with the pre-program software package for manipulating omni-tools to his needs that Cortana had wrote; foreseeing situations such as this, it was a simple HUD activated program that turned any omni-tool he touched into a communication device slaved to his armor. When he would leave the planet he would activate the wipe function, removing all data of the omni-tool ever being tampered with.

Dropping from the building to the ground below, he estimated he had ten minutes before the attack force of just over two hundred Batarians set out to find him with their vehicles and other heavy combat weaponry… he would be somewhere else by then, but he would first draw their attention away from the building the women were located in.

Sprinting towards the edge of town he decided it was time to eliminate the now weakened outer patrols, he would have to deal with the slave processing camps last, if he attacked those places then the small army being assembled just to find and kill him would possibly slaughter the civilians located within the camps… the Batarians did not need to have the fact that he cared about civilians brought to the forefront of their minds… that could give them ideas.

Approaching the first patrol group which now had only six Batarians within the squad instead of twelve, he sprinted through and put precise head-shots through each one of their skulls.

At this rate the remaining slaver search and patrol squads would be eliminated wholesale; before the large enemy force could be mobilized. The Spartan continued on his way, sprinting along the enemy patrol route he had memorized on his way into the city.

* * *

Kaphe was livid with rage… he had taken half of the Patrol force to add to his massive hunt and assault unit that would eliminate this threat, even though he did not know what this threat even looked like… Frankly speaking; Kaphe did not wish to find out what it looked like up close… until long after it was dead.

However the patrol groups no being run by six man squads were being slaughtered… cameras would blur and turn to static, vocal communications would stop transmitting, and then their dead switches would go off in rapid succession.

There it was again, that was the fourth squad, he only had six on patrol detail… this was not good. Forming a plan Kaphe decided on the fortress route, he would sacrifice the last two patrol squads for more time and then surround his current position with the newly formed two hundred strong assault unit… along with the vehicles and heavy YMIR Mechs they had both captured and brought themselves.

If this devil wished to raise more hell than it would have to fight through his best and most well armed troops.., Kaphe was confident that the fortress tactic would work.

He gave the order to surround and defend the command base camp at the captured Prexamia police headquarters; the devils did not seem interested in the processing slave and prisoners camps. They had ignored them completely… it would come for the leaders… Kaphe new that meant himself. He was the bait here, and he would make utterly sure that the bait survived this coming trail… his life depended on that fact.

* * *

Having just finished the last patrol squad of enemy soldiers, the Chief checked his satellite feeds; it seemed the Batarian in charge had not taken the bait of pursuing the Spartan… rather he was encircling his command position with the now fully assembled two hundred count Batarian army… equipped with grizzlies, Makos and what looked to be several combat Mechs.

The Spartan knew that if he was equipped with equipment from this universe then the Batarians fortress strategy would have won against him… but he wasn't of this universe, he was far more capable then his current enemies could imagine.

The Spartan cloaked and climbed the nearest building with a view of the Prexamia police headquarters; he then immediately began highlighting targets for the Missile insertion system. Once he had a target for each smaller missile he toggled the fire control on his HUD and proceeded to watch the following fireworks.

Grizzlies and Makos along with the heavier looking Mechs were all blown to pieces one after the other in quick succession, the pirate forces were thrown into utter confusion and panic, whilst the Spartan examined his remaining missile stocks… his HUD stated he had one small missile and the final package itself left to fire.

From his vantage point he could see the police headquarters roof, targeting the center of the roofs top he fired the last mini missile and counted to ten before firing the final strike package.

The mini missile came screaming down from orbit, smashing into the roof and exploding, leaving a sizable hole… that was soon the entry point for the final strike package. Suffice to say; the building that had been used as the Batarian command post had simply ceased to exist.

The Spartan then readied his Carbine and began to snipe the enemy forces with the green radioactive rounds it did produce when he squeezed the trigger, never missing his targets; he began to rapidly remove the enemy forces arrayed before him. Whilst the Pirates were now even more disorganized, the smarter ones dove for cover while the rest were attempting to figure out what exactly had destroyed nearly all their vehicles, along with the building they were supposed to guard.

No pirate Batarian officer in the defending pirate forces had taken charge; leaving them disorganized and in the open with no orders… they were easy pickings for the Spartan. The Chief was running out of ammo for the Carbine, he had spent most of it… spending the last of his Carbine ammunition the Spartan walked to the edge of the building he was on… and simply stepped of.

In the middle of the three story long drop he stowed his Carbine and grabbed both the M7 sub-machineguns of his magnetic thigh-plates; planning on his accuracy to help extend the use of his M7's ammunition, the Spartan strode forward to finish what he had started… the remaining pirates were now living a doomed existence.

* * *

Jade knew of one sure thing… she was scared, very, very scared. She had been out with her mother and big brother for her first time going to the park, it had been fun… the swings, the fort with its slide for her to fly down… it had been the best day ever!

But then her mother had looked at her glowing arm thing she liked so much, and gotten worried about something… that's when the sirens started and her mother had grabbed Jade and jade's big brother and told them to run… and run fast.

They had run… and they had run fast… but they didn't get away from those weird four-eyeballed people. A metal flying thing had dropped down from the sky and a bunch of the four-eyeballed ones had come out from its stomach.

They had tried to run, but the four-eyes pointed something at them and they had felt pain and then darkness… they had woken in a cage with a bunch of other people in other cages next to them. The four eyes would sometimes bring water and food and tease them with it… whatever small amount of food or water they had gotten her big brother had given to her…

They had stayed there and watched through the bars as what her brother called the four-eyes had seemed suddenly panicked… they had heard them yelling at each other in their strange language… they had heard a loud explosion far away… then one four-eyes voice sounded above the others and they had begun pulling people from cages and bringing them back… and now the four eyes had done something to her big brother… something horrible.

Jade looked up from the corner she had curled up in and stared at what had once been her big brother… he… no… not he… 'It'… was sitting by the cage door, where the four eyes had dumped it. Her big brother would make jokes… he would try to make her smile and forget that they were in danger… 'It' looked like her big brother… but yet wasn't her brother… 'It' just sat there… silent… unmoving… with no life in its eyes…

Jade looked around at the other cages on either side of her own… her big brother's last orders to her were to stay in the most hidden corner and remain as quite as possible… even from her location she could tell that 'It' wasn't alone… there were others, others that stared at nothing and just sat there… in fact almost no one left was not an 'It' now… she had to stay unnoticed or the four eyes would turn her into an 'It' as well.

She could tell not many not 'Its' were left besides herself… the noise of everybody shouting and crying was almost gone now… the four-eyes were walking by the cages looking for more not 'Its' to turn into 'Its'… she would pretend to be an 'It' when they walked by her cage… staring forward at nothing, her head to the back of the cage… unlike the 'Its' she did not have any red-stuff that comes from cuts on the back of her head.

If only her mother were here… she would know how to turn 'It' back into her big brother again… her mother would take her gun and shoot the four eyes… her mother was good like that… but her mother wasn't here.

The nervous four-eyes were walking by her cage yet again… one of them pointed at her… she did her best to look like one of the 'Its' but it was no use… they said something to the 'It' that used to be her big brother… and then the 'It' stood and walked over to her… staring at her with dull lifeless looking unseeing eyes… 'It' grabbed her and hauled her out of the cage for the four eyes to take… she cried silent tears as they dragged her through the room filled with cages… she had been caught… again.

Pulling her along the four-eyes went down a hall towards a room… there was a line of not 'Its' along the wall beside the door… a four-eyeballed one was pointing a gun at the line of people… there were several people laying on the floor not moving with red stuff all around them… Jade hoped that wouldn't happen to her… it didn't look good at all.

As Jade stood there in the line trying to remain unnoticed she saw that the line was moving forward one by one… from what she could see the four-eyes would grab the person at the front and push him into a room… then after a little bit they would walk out with the person following them… but it was no longer a person… it was an 'It'… Jade did not want to be an 'It'… but the four-eyes with the gun would hurt her if she tried to escape… her mother always warned her about guns… it had to do with her mother's job.

The person at the front of the line was a boy that she had been playing with at the park… he was five years old like her. The four-eyes grabbed him and looked at the line of afraid people… his two sets of eyes landed on her, and stayed on her… he walked over and grabbed her arm with his other hand… dragging her and the boy into the room.

Inside was a chair, covered in red stuff… and a four-eyes was by a table that had a bunch of weird circle things on it… the boy was put in the chair and they slapped him when he tried to fight. The four-eyes by the table walked over and took a circle thing… and a knife.

Jade watched in horror as one of the four-eyes held the boy down, while the other took the knife and slowly stabbed it into the back of the boys head… the boy was screaming now… then the four-eyes with the knife took the circle thing and pushed it into the boys head.

Dragging the boy out of the chair they stood him on his feet and one of the Four-eyes messed with a glowing arm thingy… Jade nearly threw up in horror when the boy froze and his eyes turned lifeless… he was an 'It' now… her new friend she had made at the park was gone.

The new 'It' was led out of the room while the only remaining four-eyes… the one with the knife strode towards her… she did the only she could, she fought. Jade ran directly at the four-eyes and tried to kick him where her mother said to kick guys if she was being kidnapped… it only made the four-eyes mad.

He slapped her across the face… hard. Jade thought she saw the prettiest stars… and then she was back to the present where she was being pushed into a chair, she could already sense the knife slowly heading for the back of her head; she struggled as hard as she could screaming her lungs out… she would not be an 'It'… she would not be taken!

She was so focused on escape that she didn't even hear the strange loud sounds or the screams of the four-eyes outside… she stopped struggling when the door exploded into pieces… and she found herself staring at the most beautiful green armored knight she had ever seen nor dreamed of… he stood there… with a broken four-eyes held up with one hand for all to see, its neck was turned the wrong way.

But her amazement was curbed by the feeling of a knife at her throat… jade did her best to not move and have the knife cut her… something in the back of her mind told her that would be very, very bad.

The four-eyes had stopped doing stuff to the back of her head and now growled stuff she couldn't understand to the gold faced green armored warrior before her… the Green Knight spoke back to the four-eyes its voice gave Jade chills down her spine… it then exploded into motion; moving so fast that Jade could hardly register it moving before it was past her and the four-eyes behind her had screamed… turning her head she caught sight of the Green Knight slamming his metal foot down on the four-eye's head… smashing it.

Jumping from the chair Jade ignored the Knight as she desperately felt the back of her head… her hands came away with red on them… searching the back of her head she found the lump of the circle thing the four-eyes had put there just before the Green Knight had shown up.

Jade didn't care if it hurt her… SHE WOULD NOT BE AN 'IT'! grabbing it with both hands she screamed her lungs out yet again as she pulled the object from her head… upon its removal she flung the horrid black circle thing at the Green Knight's feet, she pointed at it and screamed one word, "Smash!" the Green Knight obediently lifted his foot and brought it down on the device… crushing it to pieces.

Jade sat down where she stood and cried… she had almost been turned into an 'It', the knight had saved her from that. She was soon being comforted and medically treated by those who were in the line outside the door.

The knight quietly strode from the room, Jade got up and sprinted away from the other people who were now getting food, doing her best to catch him, "hey! mister knight!" he stood there at the edge of the halls last doorway and turned his head toward her… "My big brother… please help my big brother!"

Turning around the Green Knight picked her up and set her on his shoulder… "Show me where to go," was all he had said. She pointed him down the hallways that led to where the cages had been, upon arrival she saw all the four-eyes were broken… laying on the floor with puddles of stuff around their bodies.

Pointing to her brother's cage, the knight put her down and strode up to the cage's door. With one hand he gripped the door bars and tore the entire entrance of the cage off, the Green Knight then carefully and gently brought her brother out of the cage. Upon setting him down Jade checked the back of his head… there was the lump of the circle thing… but there was no cut anymore.

Jade didn't know how to get the circle thing out… the Green Knight saw her dilemma and drew forth a metal knife from seemingly thin air, "it will hurt for awhile, but I can get it out of his head."

Tearfully Jade nodded her agreement, then quicker than she had thought was possible the Green Knight had made a small cut and removed the object… crushing it in his green armored fist. Jade watched as the Green Knight put a bandage on the wound, and then she saw her brothers eyes become his own again… "Jade is that you… everything I see is blurry." Jade's answer to her brothers question was just a simple heart felt hug… she decided she would not let go anytime soon.

Looking around for the Green Knight who had silently disappeared while she was still hugging her brother she saw him walking towards the nearest wall, he then (to her amazement) leaped to the walls top… only to drop down on the other side and disappear… "Goodbye Green Knight." Was all she said; as she continued to hug her newly returned big brother; whilst crying her tears on his shoulder.

* * *

The Spartan was finishing things quickly, he would be done ahead of schedule… while the Batarian slavers had been numerous and well equipped by this galaxy's standards, their training had much to be desired. The Chief had realized that every weapon he had currently fielded could punch through the Batarian's kinetic barriers and armor with ease.

He had found that speed and shock and awe tactics were an excellent way to counter any organized resistance, tie that with the accuracy that Spartans were well known for and he had found that the removal of nearly four hundred and thirty Batarians had only taken him six and a half hours.

After their leadership had been removed and their assault group assembled around the now ruined Prexamia Police HQ utterly wiped out, the remaining Batarians in the slave processing camps assumed that the fleet they believed to still be in orbit would send down transports so they could leave. They had doubled their efforts to process all their newly acquired 'stock' in the camps, not knowing that the ships waiting in orbit were gone and would never deliver their shuttles.

After destroying the enemy HQ and the small army that had surrounded it the Spartan had cleared each grounded frigate of enemies, and then proceeded to take out the various slave processing camps located throughout the Colony's capital city.

With their communications hub destroyed with the Batarian command HQ, the Chief found that the different slave camps were mostly uninformed of the current events. Many of the Batarians in charge of the camps had ordered things to continue as if nothing was wrong, while other's such as the last camp he dealt with had tried to rush things; believing they were going to leave sooner than expected… they had been partially correct in that line of thinking, they had left this life far sooner than they had expected; he had seen to that.

Very rarely do Spartans laugh… but the young girl no older than early six at most had made the Spartan give a small chuckle, she had shown smarts and bravery; fighting for her freedom and showing no fear when he had appeared.

He had watched her pull the control chip out of the back of her head, were the Batarian slaver she had been fighting placed it; that had surprised him. She then had fearlessly ordered him to destroy the device… her innocent mind recognizing it as something evil, and oddly classifying him as an ally and not a new enemy on sight. That had made him chuckle… afterwards; her immediate concern having been for her brother and not her self had gained his respect.

Continuing on his way; the Spartan headed for the last processing camp, the nurses he had saved with the other woman could deal with the rest of those who were control-chipped, he had only stopped for the young girl because she had surprised him with her fearlessness, and it had been on his route out of the re-purposed hardware store the last slave camp had been built in.

Moving towards his next objective the Spartan's instincts started to yell at him to find something to conceal most of his armor… a non logical action to be sure, but if their was one non logical thing that CPO Mendez had drilled into every Spartans head, it was the simple rule of following certain gut instincts.

Grabbing a large piece of thick partially burned brown cloth that had once been an outdoor awning over a picnic table, the Spartan II quickly began tearing it to the right size; whilst continuing towards his last target.

Once finished with the makeshift cloak her put it on… there was no true reason for doing so, but that feeling one gets in their gut told him otherwise. Approaching the last processing camp for him to clear out, the Chief saw that it was built in what appeared to have been a museum of sorts, if the sign that said "museum of humanity through history" was truthful that is.

Moving in he cleared the building in record time, room by room, enemy by enemy… he had finished of the final twenty-seven enemy combatants, the last five had been killed with CQC tactics… he had finally run out of ammunition, having fired his last magazines for his M7 case-less sub machine guns. Once finished and after having patrolled for any more Batarians, the Chief left the city and called all the different groups he had given recoded omni-tools too, giving them the all clear.

The now brown robed Spartan headed for his phantom drop ship, he would stow his gear and enter this system's moon's orbit to await Cortana's return. The Pirates throughout the Terminus Systems would curb their activities when the information of what had occurred today got out… the power of fear was an amazing psychological weapon… unless they were Krogan… this part of the Galaxy was soon going to see some young krogan who would be searching for these new 'opponents' to challenge… that was what Cortana had predicted at least.

Having retrieved the Black widow spy satellite the Spartan set a course to stick within orbit Prexamia's moon and left the drop-ship on auto-pilot… he would be cleaning weapons and gear until he was retrieved by the Dawn… that would be several hours from now.

* * *

In the Psi Tophet cluster… on the ocean world of 2181 Despoina the current watcher continued to watch things through the artifact fragments with great interest… little had changed in other places of the Galaxy over the past several solar cycles… however the foolish arrogant Batarians who believed they were the Apex race of this cycle; had hired raiders and slavers of their own kind to attack worlds where the Human's now lived…

The watcher had mentally sighed to itself; 'politics'… it thought to itself… 'are tiresome'… what had truly caught its attention was the sudden silence its enthralled who were in contact with the three raid groups had suddenly been hearing… followed by the three raid groups complete disappearance… it had the Watcher worried.

It knew that the pawns of the enemy were already moving… the Humans were the target… these puppets called the collectors had been tasked by their former brethren Harbinger who was the first of the enemy hoard; to harvest the humans to build a new Reaper… 'The enemy's logic is sound' the watcher thought. 'The Humans delayed the cycle… killed an enemy watcher… the enemy intended the Humans to replace it.'

The Raiders must have faced the Collectors… however the news it gathered later was even more strange… no collectors… no missing humans… only debris fields of enemy ships… the Organics in power dismissed the thought that something had destroyed the raid groups, claiming the large clouds of small debris must have already been there…

The watcher scoffed at the lesser species leader's willful Ignorance, blindness and stupidity… it looked at the reality of the situation… someone may have broken from the mass relays trap… the thoughts the watcher gathered from its enthralled on reports of two Mech behemoths slaughtering raiders on one colony… while a green armored Mech did the same on the other at nearly the same time… only strengthened its suspicions.

They were undoubtedly the same group to have caught its attention recently… this required the watcher's investigation. It would send the enthralled known as the seer… the one who worked willingly with them despite not knowing of them… she needed only guidance… not their dominating control… the watcher had already mentally nudged her to take her doings to the world's were those refugees who had seen the ones that had struck fear into the terminus resided…

She had been preparing to do as the watcher suggested… now he sent a new command, he simply put a message into her mind… "Prexamia, go to Prexamia…" she immediately quickened her packing to do their bidding… she was excited at what she would find… she was thinking on how she had never received a message so clear before… the watcher was pleased that she did not try to pursue were the message truly came from… the Darkness must not be Breached… Its kind must not be found.

Sending a message to its replacement that it would take the next shift willingly it was asked why… simply saying that something had piqued its interest and that it was quietly investigating was enough to convince the elder who would have taken the next shift… some of the young would take three shifts at a time… just to sate their curiosity of the galaxy at large.

However these events were different… if things continued to escalate… then the watcher would bring a report to the eldest elder… the cycle had never been broken since its inception; their own race being the first victims… the Crucible had never been completed…

The very reason the intelligence allowed the Crucible's continued design every cycle was suspicious enough to warn the watcher and his kind of not attempting it themselves… the intelligence had plans for the crucible… plans that may not be in their best interests.

The Seer was now preparing to leave… she would travel to Prexamia… and the artifact fragment she carried with her would be key to seeing into the minds of those who had seen… after that the Watcher decided to send the Seer to a nearby world where several refugees of when the unknown quantity had appeared resided. It would learn what put such fear in the hearts of so many… it would do so before the enemy decided to search as well…

The watcher had a feeling of premonition… 'Interesting times are approaching'… 'what does the future hold'… 'none can truly tell the truth of its alluring mystery'… 'although' the watcher mused 'the Seer does certainly try'

With that it waited… it was patient… very patient… it would learn what it wanted in time… its race was very, very long lived…

The watcher had all the time in the world.

* * *

On the planet Alchera a lone Geth platform walked through the wreckage of a ship they had viewed on the Extranet… it was Shepard Commanders Ship… it was SR-1 Normandy… accessing the broken systems through out the crash site had revealed much…

The Normandy had been eliminated by the Collectors… most of the crew had survived… the Geth platform continued to search the crash site… it finally found what it had spent the last solar cycles searching for… evidence… its first priority, to find what had become of Shepard Commander had been completed… Shepard Commander was dead… the armor piece laying before it confirmed this.

Taking the Armor piece with it as solid evidence the Geth platform returned to its vessel… its next priority was now needed to be fulfilled… learn what new data it could on the old machines… the Geth build their own future… the old machines would be defeated… if this priority was not met then the Geth had no future to call their own.

They would research the old machines technologies… they would use it against the old machines… they would secure their future. The heretics would conform or be destroyed… consensus had been reached… it would seek out the Heretics to find the technology they had from the old machines… it would complete its priorities…

It continue to be wary of the strange one… even more signs of her presence had been found… nearly untraceable… if the old machines had searched for her they're systems would not have found her existence… she had left these trace's specifically for the Geth to find… it was a game to her… should they play it? What dangers were they facing if they did? What threats could they be courting?

Consensus pending….

Consensus has been reached.

The Geth would play her game.

* * *

On the forward unto dawn Cortana smirked… her deftly placed masterfully disguised listening codes in the Geth collective were talking to her… she had wrote them in a way where the Geth would see them and yet not realize they were listening programs… it was a brilliant piece of work, if she said so herself.

The data she was receiving told her that the Geth had just accepted her invitation to play some games… smirking all the while; the UNSC, forerunner upgraded, third generation, hyper experimental prototype smart AI started layering the new code traces she left for the Geth with Data…

When collected it would form a question… when that question was answered it would transmit the answer to her along with a billion other locations and then self delete itself… she was going to have some fun…

Oh yes she had not played with anyone remotely challenging in years…

This would be exciting!

* * *

Harbinger began to stir… Sovereign had failed… but the cycle would continue nonetheless… its puppets were preparing to collect Humans in large quantities, already one world had been cleared of its inhabitants… they had been processed into the foundations for a new Reaper… Shepard had been dealt with… all would soon lead to the Harvest…

But the rumors of these machines that fought for the innocent… they were intriguing…. Harbinger decided it would find them and their makers when the time came… he would re-purpose them… a new and effective tool for the future Harvests.

Already the Human Reaper's bare supports took shape… it would require thousands more to be completed… its indoctrinated tool's would assist the already blind galactic leaders to turn their eyes away from the soon to be emptied colonies… all would be collected… all would be harvested… all would come together as one to create the new Brother… the new machine… the New Reaper.

The cycle would continue… all would be uplifted to higher status… all would become one… all would become Reaper.

Any who resisted would be forced, indoctrinated, or destroyed… such as it was… such as it has always been… since Harbingers own creation… its creator the intelligence had mandated that the Cycle would continue… the Harvest was approaching… the great host was stirring… beginning the long travel from dark space to the outer rim.

They would sweep over the galaxy like a sweeping unstoppable tide… no more delays… no more stopping the harvest… the Cycle would continue… it would be done as it had always been done, slow methodical and unfaltering… all would be consumed… all would be Harvested.

All would be uplifted to perfection.

* * *

On Prexamia the clean-up efforts were in full swing… the news agencies had been interested, sending several journalists… but the Galactic eye was still mostly focused on the citadel attack… where the politicians wanted it to be focused.

Within the city's museum a old fashioned digital camera sat in its showcase… the glass had been smashed and the pre-element zero SSD video Camera was laying on its side… the lens facing the bulk of the room… within its line of sight lay seven dead Batarians and a smashed Heavy Mech.

If one looked closely they would see where the recording button had been pressed when the camera had fallen on its side… the museum curator took good care of its items… he even went so far as to make sure many of them still worked… increasing the value of the item and the reputation of the museum…

The Camera had been built in the late twenty twenty's over a hundred and fifty years ago, it had several terabytes of SSD memory space all which was empty. Its battery was the best of its time; it could record for several days even weeks back when it was in its prime.

The camera type had been replaced by the smaller and higher resolution technology discovered with element zero… the entire industry of electronics had either conformed to element zero technology or been shutdown from lack of buyers.

With a quite click the camera shut down from power loss… if someone were to power it up they would find the footage of the Batarian that had smashed the display case… and several hours later, the sight of a very large cloaked figure… smashing the Heavy Mech and wiping the Batarians out with strange weapons and close combat…

The camera sat there innocently waiting for its recording to be discovered…

The Urban Galactic wide legend…

the conspiracy theories…

the tall tale told to children and adult alike…

the whispered stories of the Mysterious Unknown Defender and his various unknown allies had begun.

* * *

Tali entered her living quarters… she had been back at the fleet for two days now… her trial mission had been a success… she had gained top marks from all her overseers, she was now a special operative of the Migrant fleet, she would be called in from her pilgrimage to be sent out for important missions involving data gathering for perhaps one day retaking the Quarian colonies and home world of Rannoch…

Sitting down on her bunk she began to run assessments on her suite… after checking everything and finding it passed her inspection she began to look through her message box… only to find a strange message… from someone she did not know… all it had was a last name… one that she did recognize, it was a once renowned scientist who had recently died of old age… he had been searching for ways to help the Quarian immune system improve…

The only other thing in the message was a ships room number and a password… wondering what this was all about Tali decided to investigate.

She was after all curious and she did have a week off from her pilgrimage to spend with the fleet.

"I could always use another adventure" she said as she left to search for the room number…

Tali didn't know it yet, but completing this puzzle adventure had a reward...

And oh what a reward this particular adventure would deliver.

* * *

(Note)

Finally! Chapter eight! The longest chapter yet! It's done!

Anyways hope you all enjoyed it, took forever to type this one, if you have a review than by all means leave one below, and to all of you who are saying I should write a book, well I have decided to do so… it will probably take awhile to make perfect but I have awesome action packed adventure story in mind… the main character will be a certain strange green eyed little girl… who I might add will be returning to this fan-fiction soon…

So I'm going to take a day off to rest my aching noggin, and then alternate between typing this story and writing my own intense junior novel series.

So expect future chapters to be posted a bit slower… ill still post three or more a month though… I really intend to finish this story, every chapter I type my grammar improves and my words per minute increase… it's a great way to practice writing.

So see you all at chapter nine! This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	9. Chapter 9

(Note)

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise. Both Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Chapter Nine is here! Hope you all enjoy it folks!

(Me and the Grammer Nazi I have recently employed will be going through the previous chapters soon, in order to start editing out the grammar mistakes and other issues. I will update each chapter when we finish editing it.)

Now enough chit-chat because its time for me to say ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Cortana was currently not a happy AI, two small System Alliance Colonies had been emptied of their occupants and after extensive research throughout all electronic systems belonging to groups that had the capabilities to steal a colony; she had found nothing, not a single piece of evidence pointed towards a guilty party… Scanning the history logs throughout the Extra-net Cortana finally found something that could possibly explain the missing colonists.

It was a considerably recent urban myth… one that was considered false by most of galactic society; one which nearly every Krogan seemed to believe. The files she had found in the STG as well as throughout various Krogan companies dedicated to the cure of the genophage stated that one of the few high level scientists the Krogan had; a warlord known as Okeer, had sold thousands of Krogan into slavery to a mysterious race called the Collectors.

Okeer had alienated the majority of his race when this had occurred… her searching had revealed that he was currently working with the Blue suns in order to create a controllable Krogan army for them. Cortana wasn't buying it, she had researched Okeer's former actions, and he surely had another reason for working for the blue suns… although she couldn't fathom what that could be, simply put; Cortana had not found out much about the Collectors.

The most recent mention of the collectors she could find, was tied with the recent death of the Human Specter Jane Shepard, who wrote the informative reports she had been following. One of Shepard's crew, a Krogan for that matter; had stated that he believed the ship that had destroyed the Normandy SR-1 to be a Collector vessel… his opinion was noted by a System Alliance investigative interrogator but ignored by the higher ups.

Without a way to track the Collectors Cortana put that issue aside for later and sent her report to her Spartan, they had agreed to set up a main base along with several small outposts around the Galaxy. They would be spending the next several months switching between killing Pirates and building bases... Far, far away from any mass relays.

However before that could happen they would need to infiltrate the Citadel to install the now completed Dumb AI Cinder, Cortana had been playing multiple chess matches with her latest creation, and was pleased with the results.

Cortana had won most of the chess matches but Cinder had passed all her trials with flying colors, she wasn't a Smart AI by any standards… but she was more capable than most Dumb AI Programs. Inquisitive Creation had finished creating her Data Chip housing, and Cinder had been brought fully online and was handed its priorities and what its future environment would be.

Now they just had to place Cinder within the Citadel's primary systems… that would require an infiltration mission, one that her Spartan was currently planning with her. She would be unable to go with the Chief physically for this mission; she could no longer make copies of herself to run things while she was not present, and until she created another dumb AI to manage the ship she knew she would have to stay with the Dawn.

As for the upcoming infiltration mission, it was to fulfill two goals…

A small krogan clan that had in recent times mostly been ignored, being only known for its former political power, was now drawing much attention to itself. It had only been several weeks but Clan Urdnot was gaining the attention of a lot of small Krogan clans, it was greatly talked about on the Extranet between various minor Krogan groups.

Cortana's attention was drawn to this when the newest leader of Clan Urdnot, one known as Urdnot Wrex, turned out to also be her only available lead on the Collectors. So it made total sense to kill two birds with one stone.

Her research on the clan had come up with some interesting results, the newly led and fast growing clan Urdnot was going to have a meeting on the Citadel, a meeting that would involve multiple Krogan businesses as well as several weapons manufacturing companies.

It seemed that this Urdnot Wrex knew what he was doing, from what she had learned; he was an old, well experienced, Krogan war veteran… being one of the last few remaining Krogan Battle masters.

Wrex had not been in power for more than two weeks but he was already making headway in his goal of uniting the Krogan… Cortana would have to keep an eye on him in the future, it was way too soon to tell if Wrex had some ulterior motive or if he truly wanted to unite his people under one banner, Cortana could afford to wait and find out.

However if a discreet meeting on one of the Citadel's arms was happening, then it would be the perfect cover to place Cinder within its systems. That and the Chief could gain valuable Intel on the Collectors from the Krogan Battle master…

After the plan was settled and all was agreed upon, Cortana set about digitally creating the Chief's new alias as a former N7 now a privately hirable body guard, specialized in various forms of VIP protection. She would then forward a resume to several of the minor Weapons traders who would be attending the meeting and were currently hiring body guards for said event.

As for a disguise the Chief and Inquisitive Creation were currently overhauling an ODST uniform, by the time they finished it, it would contain no traces of ever belonging to the UNSC. Anyone who analyzed it would think it was some custom, one of a kind, experimental, shield-less body armor made for important events.

While the Chief would be attending the business meetings as a body guard, speaking to a Krogan Clan leader about the collectors, placing Cinder within the Citadel's Systems and exploring the easily accessible sections of the self proclaimed largest Station in the Galaxy. Cortana would take the Dawn and begin the long term construction of their first and largest base… ironically only several hours journey through slip-space away from the Citadel itself, it would be hidden within a system that was surrounded by a constantly fluctuating nebulae.

Any ship not using Slip-space would be unable to access the resource loaded solar system hidden within the dangerous space cloud; it was the perfect place to make a manufacturing facility and Cradle repair station. Cortana had found it by examining Forerunner star charts… it was literally one of the few hundred only places in the Galaxy that stayed exactly the same in this universe as it was in their own.

Cortana had a theory about that… but she could research it later once they were done settling into their current surroundings.

Inquisitive Creation was tasked with creating another Huragok… not an easy feat to achieve with the current resources available, although the Floating Biological Super Computer stated that it was not a problem and would only take several days longer to complete the task. The new Huragok would be placed in charge of building the construction drone factories in order to eventually complete the base after the Dawn left to do other things.

They would remain in contact with a deep space communications suite installed via scraping it off the Dawns hull and retrofitting it to a transmitter dish groundside. It was calculated that the base would be completed within two to three years; its builders working non-stop to increase their own numbers and build the facilities at the same time…

Cortana figured they were stuck with the long wait… unless they were to find more stuff from they're own universe drifting in this weird Galaxy… preferably forerunner stuff, now that was something she sincerely hoped would happen; even though the chances were incredibly unlikely.

* * *

On the Colony world of Prexemia clean up operations were currently underway, the surviving leaders of the Colony had contracted the future construction of four defense cannons; along with standard training drills that would be done every two months by the colonists.

All in all things were looking up for Prexemia, the majority of the Population were living on the Fairgrounds in tents and within the now completely stripped and disabled Batarian Frigates, they would be allowed to return to their homes within the week, the clean up of the bodies, wrecked vehicles and structural repairs would be mostly completed by then.

The mystery of the Green Armored Warrior was the talk of the makeshift refugee camp; those who had seen him up-close were sought out and asked to tell their stories to those who hadn't seen him… or those who had been chipped before his arrival.

The few that had gotten a good look at the Green Armored Warrior had drawn him from memory as best as was possible, but without solid evidence of his existence many of those who were visiting Prexemia after the recent attack stated their doubt, believing the story to be blown out of proportion… a tall tale to draw in tourists.

The Majority of the scoffers were ignored by the city's populace; they now had a legend to call their own it was something to differentiate them from everyone else, something they could tell their children about. The newer generation of the Colony world held onto this new differentiator that gave them a sense of Individuality from the other Colonies with a stubborn grip, the scoffers could scoff all they wanted, they weren't there when it happened… after all.

Seeing is believing is it not?

To say the vendor vultures weren't circling the poor refugee's and tourists wallets would be bold faced lie. All around the refugee camp vendors and tent shops had opened up, selling their wares and services to whoever was willing to pay for them.

Sitting among all the different Vendors and outdoor shops was a Purple colored tent with a banner over its doorway, many people went in… and all of them walked out with a surprising lack of memory as to what they had done within.

If one were to approach it for the first time they would feel an inexplicable pull towards the purple tent's door… a whisper in their minds encouraging them to investigate, as they approached the door they would look up and see what was written on the Banner in bold letters…

"Mistress Zujenia! A Teller of Fortunes!"

On a distant water world the Watcher stared across the vastness of the Galaxy, focusing its attention on the Fragment that it's willingly enthralled carried with her; soon it would have answers… For the Seer had begun her work.

* * *

Jade was walking with her brother through-out the many shops and vendors catering to the displaced populace… she and her brother had begged their mother to go see the shops until their mother had caved and handed them some credits to buy candy and food with.

They had been walking around staring at the many shops and exhibits that had made a temporary home at the edge of the refugee camp, many of the stalls were selling paintings and drawings of the many different depictions of the Green Armored Warrior…

Jade thought it completely stupid, none of the drawings looked right and he was the Green Knight not the Green armored Warrior! But none of the merchants peddling their wares would listen to her rants on the subject; she was after all a child.

She had just finished complaining to an artist for painting her Green Knight with green painted Systems Alliance armor, saying that he didn't look like that at all, then groaning in frustration when the artist ignored her and started making a new painting that looked just like all the others she had been complaining about, when her big brother who had been standing nearby laughing stepped over and told it was time to head back to their mother.

As they were walking back they passed by a purple tent… and her big brother suddenly turned toward it and started walking as if he was sleep-walking. Wondering what was up with her big brother Jade followed him until he entered the tent… after a moment she followed him in… but the creepy feeling crawling up her spine told her to be wary.

What she saw inside was a interior decorated with beautiful hand woven rugs… and a table at the center, her brother was just sitting down at it… across from him sat a lady who was very old and very, very pretty.

The lady smiled at them both and began to speak "I am Mistress Zujenia dear children and have traveled the stars to give others their fortune… I have seen many world on my travels young ones and I have told the fortunes to many different Humans. Asari, Krogan, Quarians and many others, my family has been seers of the future for many generations… our heirloom rests before you on this table, look deep into its depths if you wish to see your future."

With that she remained silent sitting there in a meditating pose… seemingly uncaring as to what occurred in her presence. The large pearl like glass orb she had gestured to was breathtakingly beautiful; filled with streaks of dark grey and black with swirls of darkest blue throughout its smooth spherical surface that seemed to move and shift about in the light, Jade thought that it looked like a window into an endless depth of deep dark water… it did not make her feel safe.

She walked over to her big brothers side noticing him stare deeply into the stone, she asked him when they would go back to mother and he ignored her. At that, Jades alarms started going off in her head; asking a second time she leaned over to where she could see his face… she felt utter terror at what she saw there.

His eyes were lifeless looking staring ahead at the large ball of weird glass on the table… her brother wasn't there anymore… he was an IT! Again! Jade jumped back and looked over to the old and very pretty woman sitting at the other side of the table… empty eyes also stared at the glass stone on the table… she was in IT Also! Jade was going to hyperventilate at this point… then she noticed the lights.

The large black glass ball was swirling with a dull glowing light and making a low humming noise… Jade realized that both her Brother and the lady were staring at it… if she didn't want to be an IT than she shouldn't stare at, so she tore her gaze away.

Thinking desperately on how to get her brother back she looked over to the tents sidewall… only to find a hammer used for tent stakes, running over and grabbing it, she turned round and ran straight at the swirling glass ball with the full intent to smash it.

She never reached her target, the ball suddenly got much brighter and the humming louder and Jade suddenly found herself in a cold and dark place… alone. Getting to her feet she screamed bloody murder to the vast cold emptiness around her… she would not be an IT! She would not!

As if it had heard her cry the Darkness brightened into a dark blue, like deep under an ocean… and then it spoke to her in a deep and awe inspiring voice. "Fear not of future enslavement little one… you should have pride, you resist our enthrallment more than most who walk this galaxy."

Jade was not comforted by any means, "I will not be an IT! No I WILL NOT! You hear me mister darkness!" turning around to look about at the emptiness she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of her Green Knight… he stood there still and unmoving… lifeless.

The voice spoke again from all round her, "Tell me of this Warrior… this Knight, and I shall free you and the others from my control young one, I must learn of him and his kind… what they have done, what they continue to do… I must understand why?" With that offer laid before her, Jade figured she didn't have much choice in the matter.

So she told the voice of her encounter, how the Green Knight had saved her and her big brother, how he had broken all the four-eyes and stopped them from making more people into ITS'

She felt the voice in her head… looking at her memories… and then it hummed a deep satisfied hum and everything faded away.

Jade found herself walking next to her brother on the way home… with a big gap in her memory as to the last ten minutes… Jade always noticed stuff like this and freaked out about it while her big brother just shrugged it off as a side effect of being control chipped for a short period of time and continued on home.

When they got to their temporary home and as they helped their mother prepare supper, Jade couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness that surrounded the missing ten minutes of her memory… she would do what her dad always told her to do.

She would sleep on it.

The next morning brought Jade no answers, she had woken early before everyone else. Frustrated at the lack of answers to her feeling of something wrong having happened yesterday, she simple stood up and rammed her head into the nearest tent post… and like a tidal wave all ten missing minutes of her life came flooding back.

Rushing out of the tent that her family was using Jade sprinted to where the Purple tent had been… it had been located relatively near to her current residence. When she got to were it had been she found an empty plot… the old and very pretty lady was gone, along with her glass ball that made people into ITS and spoke with a strange voice.

Jade just hoped they were gone for good…

She would never be an IT. She was Jade… and nobody, nobody would ever make her into an IT. She wouldn't let them.

She would rather die first.

Of this she was utterly sure.

* * *

Mistress Zujenia sat quietly on her seat within the cruiser sized trading vessel… it was outbound to the Colonies within the Skyllian Verge… the voice had spoken to her again and told her to go there and run her business on some of the stable settlements in the region.

Unknown to lady Zujenia the watcher was only using her to gather the last bits of information it could gain on this unknown threat to the Pirates of the galaxy…

The government officials it had "interviewed" had given information on the whereabouts of the first set of witnesses these creatures had saved… most had been examined…. But there was an anomaly that garnered investigating; the first set of witness's memories had mentioned a strange girl who seemingly knew more than she should…

She would have to be "interrogated."

* * *

Tali was trying to understand what she was looking at… the room number was that of a small storage room for cleaning supplies; that had a data terminal in it. She had arrived to find others that had received the strange message on their own omni-tools.

The terminal had a partial file and a coded message in it, the message once decoded simply said "Let the Treasure hunt begin!" and the partial file was unreadable.

She and the others had deduced that this was a scavenger hunt a certain dead scientist had set up to occur after his death… now the question was what the end reward was and what the next clue could be.

They had mostly agreed the partial File held the clue… but Tali wasn't so sure, she felt there was something else that they were missing. While the other Quarians worked on finding a way to read the incomplete file, Tali took a closer look at the Terminal. Examining the terminal with a critical eye she noticed a set of numbers stating its serial and creation date numbers… as if from nowhere an idea occurred to her.

if she flipped those numbers around she had a ship number and a room number respectively… 'What if this hunt was on more than one ship?' with that thought she went with her gut and took off for the shuttle bay, she had a Treasure hunt to win.

The other Quarians who had investigated the weird message looked on curiously… it could be she was late for a meeting or some other event; most just continued to try to break the partial file's encryption, without success. Some of the smarter ones went and examined the Terminal like Tali had… it would be ten minutes before another Quarian took off for the shuttle bay, that got the others attention and every one started to examine the Terminal.

The clue wouldn't be realized until one of those that figured it out had mercy on the others and told them his guess… by then, four other Quarians were ahead of the group, with Tali at the lead.

* * *

The Illusive Man was sitting in his favorite chair staring out at the vastness of space from his viewing deck. He was pleased with the attaining of Shepard's Corpse; the beginning of Project Lazarus was an all out success. The Project would be completed within the next year and nine months, unless there were setbacks of some sort.

However the Illusive Man was not pleased with the reports he was receiving from his agents investigating the unknown interfering group that had been halting Pirates on Various Colonies throughout the Terminus systems, Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge.

They had found no physical solid evidence what so ever, only several eyewitness accounts and rumors run rampant. There wasn't even any electronic evidence other than what Shepard had found.

This greatly annoyed the Illusive Man; the problem was that there wasn't just one group. Two colonies and a mining outpost had gone dark. No bodies, no signs of struggle, no electronic or physical evidences and no warning.

Not knowing about a threat and knowing that you don't know anything about it; is incredibly stressful and frustrating. Times that by two and you have what the Illusive Man was currently experiencing.

He needed something, anything! Some form of new information on these unknown quantities he could use to make assessments on threat or capability. Sadly he had received none; he would have to wait for his agents in the field to report at their next check-in.

His theorists and analysts had theorized that one group could be the Collectors… something he had already had suspicions of being the case. However that left the other group, which Shepard had thought were using highly experimental Mechs of some sort.

Suspicions aside, both factions were undoubtedly well equipped and very powerful. One had been kidnapping whole Colonies without leaving any evidence. The other had detonated a nuke (A NUKE!) in the middle of a Pirate fleet hiding behind a Colony's moon, leaving no survivors; whilst also simultaneously mounting an effective offensive in two other Star systems against the different Slaver strike groups.

The Illusive man poured a glass of brandy to help clear his head of wondering thoughts. Both factions obviously had multiple ships and thus probably had large caches of resources.

The implications of all these possibilities if proven true were two much to think on without receiving a massive headache for ones efforts. The Illusive man decided to wait until more evidence came in before thinking through any other possible scenarios.

Having moved his mind away from that topic the Illusive Man pulled up the final drafts for the building of the Normandy-SR2, it would be rushed to completion its hull was already being fabricated in Cerberus's best manufacturing facilities.

She would need a Pilot when the time for testing came; the Illusive Man concluded that Jeff Moreau would be the only qualified pilot for a vessel such as this, he would be recruited in time when the days for the simulations tests that came before the trial runs arrived.

Despite his attempt to distract his mind the Illusive Man knew that he would never get the mystery of the two factions out of his head, until it was resolved. His field agents had no info, his contacts within the Shadow Broker's organization had no Info, negotiations with the Shadow Broker gave no results either.

It seemed the Broker was just as frustrated as Cerberus was… that thought was not comforting to the Illusive Man at all.

* * *

The Geth Platform was lying on the ground deactivated, with a hole ripped and blasted through the right side of its chest and shoulder. It had been attempting to retrieve Old Machine Technology from a group of Heretic Geth on this planet, it had failed.

Slowly the experimental self repair systems it fielded began to bring its core functions back online… its single optic blinked rapidly before it flared to life. Slowly over the next few hours it made its way as best it could back to its small ship, it had reached consensus… it would not allow itself to deactivate this solar cycle.

Upon reaching It's vessel it headed into orbit and began the examination of the damage the heretic Juggernaut platform had inflicted on it, it was repairable. But it concluded that the damaged area would be obvious to any external examiner that saw it. Setting to work it removed the totaled pieces of its upper right shoulder and began to rewire its internals in order to maximize efficiency and minimize the damages in its chest.

After several hours time the Platform came to a dilemma, its shoulder armor was exposed and the joint there had no sturdy metal material to strengthen it, it was out of repair parts, all of which it had spent on the gaping cavity in its chest.

The answer was simple, consensus was reached and a decision made; It would have to improvise. Searching throughout the small ship it was using the Platform found a few things it could scavenge from the vessels small armory, after utilizing those parts it looked for anything else it could utilize.

It still required a proper armor covering and hard material for its right shoulder joint… glancing around the vessel the Platforms solitary eye landed with an analyzing gaze on the evidence it had collected on Shepard Commander.

It was the armor parts for Shepard Commander's right side… it could be utilized for the purpose of armoring something yet again could it not? Consensus was reached, it would be utilized as armor again, it calculated that including this to its repairs would improve performance and allow it to keep a continued presence in Galactic events, this would allow the platform to postpone a return trip for repairs.

Setting to work, the Platform meticulously cleaned and then combined its right shoulder with the high quality armor components. When it finished, It had concluded that its right arm would perform better due to the materials now making up its right shoulder joint.

Standing up from its work station the platform walked to It's ships physical interface and plugged in, it would need the ships computer systems so it could vacate its Geth programs from its mobile platform in order to re-arrange the operating software used for the platforms movements.

All was quite on the Geth vessel as its conglomerate of occupants rewrote its platforms operating codes in order to maximize movement efficiency. The Mobile platform sat motionless at its plug-in port, visible in the dim light the vessel was internally lit with.

Its right shoulder now painted with the Red, White and Black of the N7 Special Forces; the N7 logo was visible though slightly obscured by damage on its new partial chest plate.

It had reached consensus, it would continue its objective. It would complete its priorities; it would search for more technology belonging to the old machines.

The Geth make they're own future, it would strive to enable them to do so…

It would not allow itself to fail.

* * *

On the Colony of Prexemia a certain museum Curator was running around frantically instructing volunteers on what they could, how they could, how they should and what they shouldn't do to certain historical objects.

Captain Jackson Kirkwell was a retired Coast guard officer who had become rather well off financially by a lucky break in the stock market. He had moved to Prexemia in order to teach the newer generations born away from earth about Humanities roots. His museum was his pride and joy and it had hurt him dearly upon his return from a historical auction on earth to find his beloved establishment trashed by the Batarians.

Many of his priceless historical artifacts were damaged, some beyond any repair. Upon first seeing what had occurred while he was away Kirkwell had burst into tears, now he was striving to repair what had been done to his beloved museum.

It had pained him even more to learn that the LG paper 4k TV from the early twenty first century along with half of his Amazon Kindle Fire tablets from the same time period; were total losses. He had just explained which gaming console was which to a group of young teens who had been volunteered by their parents for the day to help clean up the museum, as well as assured a young girl that the I-phone seven she had accidentally dropped was perfectly fine, claiming it had the survivability of a cockroach.

Upon entering the camera section of his large historical electronics wing, Kirkwell set to work on reviewing each exhibition for damages. He prided himself in that every camera he had still worked… he hoped after the clean up he could still say the same.

He found all the film cameras to be just as he left them, with only a few scratches from being knocked out of their showcase which had been shoved unto its side. Finding some comfort in that the old film consuming dinosaurs were all still in working order; he moved on to the early digital models.

These ones were the ones that would break if knocked around. Thankfully most of their display cases were undisturbed, with only few having their glass broken. The few Cameras that had found the floor were still in working condition although they had some cosmetic damages he would have to attend too later.

Approaching the end of the Camera exhibit hall he started checking the cameras that had been utilized just before element zero based technology had taken over.

One had signs of being shot at but upon closer examination only the SSD was destroyed. That was something he could replace, although it would take some searching to find an original drive and not a remake.

Approaching the final set of cameras he found only one case with glass busted containing a high quality camera lying on its side with the lens facing the rest of the room. Picking it up Kirkwell noticed a small sliver of glass had jammed the recording button, upon closer examination he found the camera would start up and give the drained battery sign and then turn off.

Kirkwell stared at the camera in disbelief, he had been told that the clean up crew tasked with collectig the slavers' bodies had found a couple dead ones and a destroyed heavy mech in this room, it would explain the knocked over displays. The lack of destroyed cameras was a Freaking miracle that Kirkwell was not going to question. But if this camera had been recording until its battery died… 'Could it have seen what many now claimed was un-seeable by cameras?'

Hoping it would still work and had no internal damages; Kirkwell took it to the basement of the building where he and his comrades worked on keeping the Museum's items in their best condition. Upon arrival he set up a projector he and his electronics specialist Maxwell had gotten working only the week before and layed out a portable charging mat for the camera to lay on, then he plugged the camera up to the projector and set it on the mobile charging pad.

After waiting a few seconds for the battery to gain enough energy to run the camera Kirkwell powered it on and had the projector display its options menu on the white sheet he and Maxwell had used to test the projector on only the week before.

Scrolling through the menu items Kirkwell selected the 'view saved videos' option and was shocked to find over twenty-three hours of video had been recorded. Feeling rather excited, Kirkwell played the video.

It began with a close up of a Batarians waist, apparently he was examining the cameras… having found no use for them the Batarian had left but not before kicking over a display cases spilling the older Film cameras onto the floor between the display case and the wall.

After that Kirkwell sped up the video and found the first quarter of it to be mostly that of random Batarians walking through the room and breaking the glass of a case or two; examining cameras to see if they were worth stealing and then (Much to Kirkwell's relief) leaving them be.

It was near the videos halfway point that any changes started happening, a group of Batarians ran into the room and were followed by a Heavy Mech, that took up position in the middle of the room its guns pointed towards the entry way. The Batarians had dragged a display case from outside the room in front of the entry way and were nervously fidgeting about looking scared while pointing their guns to the doorway as if expecting something to come charging through at any moment.

The Camera audio caught bits and pieces of terrified dialogue from the Batarians, while what sounded like an all out war could be heard in the background. Kirkwell heard something about a Demon of Vengeance along with several other phrases referencing terrifying characters from Batarian folklore.

And then the background noise of what had to be a fierce battle started to fade and then became silent… the Batarians the camera was recording tensed up and had every weapon pointed at the door, several of them were shaking with nerves.

Then it appeared, seemingly fading into existence in their very midst was a massive brown cloaked figure wearing green armored boots and gauntlets, Kirkwell watched in astonishment as the figure moved about with grace and dexterity, while most of its features were hidden by the cloak it wore.

It wielded a odd weapon in each hand that spat fire and had dispatched three of the seven Batarians in the blink of an eye, then it dropped its weapons and engaged in close combat… killing yet another two Batarians.

That was when the heavy Mech opened fire, the rounds impacted on a shimmering golden field of light that seemed to warp about the cloaked figure. With speed that defied belief the cloaked fighter charged the Mech head on and slammed into it knocking it onto its back, where the cloaked figure was now facing towards the camera.

The Mech attempted to swipe the cloaked person off itself with its mechanical arms, but found them both pinned by the large person on its chest. Then to Kirkwell's utter shock the Green Gauntleted One began to squeeze, the sounds of grinding gears and warping metal could be heard and the mech lost the ability to use either of its arms as the Cloaked Fighter slowly stood up and took both arms with it.

Raising one green armored boot, it slammed it down and caved the Heavy Mech's armored chest in… ending its operational status permanently.

The last two Batarians made a final rush on the Cloaked Figure firing their shotguns at close range, the golden shimmering light protected the figure just as before and one of the Batarians found its head brutally torn from its shoulders by a gauntlet armored hand, the last Batarian had charged from behind and leaped up to wrap an arm around the Cloaked Figures neck in a strangle hold.

The Figure stood unmoving for a full three seconds as the Batarian did its best to choke it to no avail, reaching an arm behind its head the Cloaked Titan grabbed the Batarian by the neck and wrenched him over its head and into the ground snapping its spinal cord with a loud crack in the process… turning slowly the figure made its way over to its two weapons and retrieved them… then it left the room, effortlessly pushing the barricade at the door aside.

Kirkwell stared at the dead bodies of the Batarians and the Mech for a full five minutes before getting over his shock and rewinding the video to watch the gruesome one sided battle over again, and again, and again.

On his sixth or seventh time through, he paused and played the video at a slower frame rate at the part where the last living Batarian attempted to choke the cloaked figure, he caught hint of green and gold when the cloaks hood almost slipped off due to the Batarian yanking from behind.

Making a Digital copy of the Video and putting it on his omni-tool Kirkwell immediately called his friend David Samson who managed the Prexemia Inquire, the Inquirer was the local news distributor on the colony and Kirkwell new they would want to publish this story first… this was going to make his Museum famous!

'Actually scratch that thought, this was going to make the whole darn Colony famous!'

* * *

Jade sat in the Museum looking through the books that lay scattered around the gaming section. Her Mother had volunteered her big brother to help clean up the place full of cool stuff, and after sufficient begging she had gotten to go with him.

He had told her that she couldn't help with the other stuff because it might break, so he had left her to look at all the cool books he had found piled next to a knocked over bookshelf. Digging through the books she found one that had lots of cool pictures in it.

Looking through she saw cool vehicles, robots and creatures, every few pages there were drawings of amazing things that took her breath away. Flying cities, massive armies, beautiful and scary castles, horses with wings, epic Battleships, massive Space ships, people with jet packs… so many amazing things were drawn here.

One was of a blue creature with green eyes and a big smile giving a thumbs up while standing next to a pink creature with a big red and yellow hammer, a yellow fox with two tails was flying above their heads… Jade thought they were all cool looking.

Scrolling through the book she finally reaching the end when she saw him, Her Green Knight leading men in a fight against strange scary creatures. The next photo showed Her Green Knight, the Men and Creatures working together to fight monsters whose pictures scared Jade so bad she screamed and threw the book away from herself.

Slowly walking over and picking it back up she searched for anymore drawings of the Green Knight, but was disappointed to only find one more drawing; it showed two armies charging each other with her knight in the middle holding a weapon.

Closing the book, she went looking for the man who her brother had pointed at when he was telling her who owned the building. Jade shouldn't have bothered, the man nearly ran her over when he came walking hurriedly around a corner.

"I'm so sorry little one I wasn't quite watching where I was headed; are you quite alright?" he asked as he checked her over for any bodily harm that may have accidentally been inflicted.

"I'm Ok" Jade said with a big smile, "I was looking for you mister."

"You were looking for me?" asked the man, "Why would you have been looking for me dear child?" he said with a smile. "Are you sure you haven't confused me with someone else?"

"Nope it was you I was looking for," Jade stated. "My brother said you own this building and all of this cool stuff, and I was wondering…" she paused.

"Wondering what, my dear girl? Go on, you can tell me, don't be afraid now." He said when he noticed she had stopped and was nervously clutching the book she was holding to her chest.

"I was wondering... ifIcanhavethisbookplease," she spoke rapidly. Raising an eyebrow the man held out his hand and Jade nervously handed him the book, examining it he began to speak out loud.

"The spine is damaged, some of the pages have tears… its not a terribly important piece of history, it mostly covers the subject of art and I bet you want this book due to its many pretty pictures held within it, now don't you?" he said as he smiled at her with a knowing gleam in his eye.

"Yes sir, they're very, very pretty and it has my favorite Green Knight in it," Jade answered.

Seemingly thinking the question over by running a hand through his beard, the man came to decision. "Well ill tell you what, you can have it… but you have to ask your parents to take you to the Museum more often." He said as he handed back the book with a twinkle of amusement in his blue eyes.

"Thank you mister! I wont forget!" Jade said as she started to run off to find her big brother and show him what she had found and what the nice man had let her keep.

"The names Kirkwell little lady and I hope you enjoy the book." The man said with a laugh. "Now I need to hurry up and go, or I'm going to be late to the lunch meeting with Samson." And with that he too took off running in order to go show someone what he had found that day.

Jade ran through the museum looking for her big brother, the book clutched to her chest; if one were to read the title it would say this…

"Epic Concept Art for Games that were never made."

* * *

(Note)

Chapter nine complete! (Except grammar… ill update that later.)

Sorry for the week long delay, AC died (thank god we have a cold front), siblings had a car wreck (they're both ok) the election happened… all in all a very eventful week.

Anyways I hope to have chapter ten done faster than this one.

to all those wondering about the ending of this chapter... well, mass effects Earth rotates the opposite way of our own; its surface is a mirror image with the continents flipped... the history is slightly different as well, many minor things that have happened in our universe were probably never finished or even occurred in the Mass effect timeline.

Hope you all have enjoyed the story so far, next chapter we infiltrate the citadel! Now won't that be fun…

So until next time this is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	10. Chapter 10

(Note)

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now lets pick up were we left off, so I say ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Tali arrived aboard the vessel whose number was the same as the first four digits of the numbers she was tracking. She quickly made her way to the third deck of the Cruiser sized vessel. Where she happened upon the room she was searching for… room three-hundred and eight.

Upon her arrival she found it to be yet another storage room… she hoped this wouldn't be a trend, the migrant fleet has thousands of storage areas all throughout its vast array of vessels. She did not want to end up searching through a large number of them.

Upon searching the room she found a blinking data terminal and the partial file it contained… but there was no clue included in the file, Tali figured that the clue was once again very non-distinctly hidden in a way where no one would assume to look.

Searching the crates and the rest of the room delivered no answers, the data terminal was of a different make than the last one; its numbering was not translatable into a ship serial and room number. So the question remained… where is the clue hidden…

Looking over at the data terminal Tali saw that it was still blinking between bright and dim… checking it for damages she found none… acting on a hunch; she observed and recorded the blinking cycle for a full minute, that's when she began noticing repeating patterns in the blink cycle.

Those patterns were translatable into the short and long Quarian signal system. The Quarian version of what the Humans had called Morse code. Translating was an easy task for Tali, and upon translation it revealed another message and a room number.

The message simply said, "I am everywhere, I follow all, none can completely escape my presence, the light burns me, leaving wounds that will not heal in It's presence… yet I am eternal, and when the light is gone from my presence I grow in power and instantly achieve my former strength."

"So tell me oh treasure hunter bold… what am I?"

Tali sat on a crate and thought it over… the mention of light in the riddle gave away the answer involving darkness, the comment about following everybody probably refers to Shadows. But what did the riddle imply? She looked at the number and then added the word shadow in front of it… the answer was now obvious; it was a Ship's name and room number.

Getting up she walked to the door only for it to open to reveal another quarian, one she recognized from the previous room… Tali walked past him normally, pretending like she was an inhabitant of the vessel they were currently on. To her relief the Quarian didn't give her any notice but instead ran past her to the data terminal, activating his omni-tool in the process.

After the door closed behind her Tali once again hurried away to the launch bays, she would have to be quick and find the next partial file and clue. Worst case scenario the other searchers would start following her instead of figuring out the clues for their own.

Upon reaching the launch bays she boarded a taxi shuttle and paid the pilot to make a stop at the Shadow for her disembarkment, her researching of the vessel on the Quarian information network showed it to be an old Turian military cruiser, decommissioned and gutted of weapons before the events of Shanxi happened.

The information on the vessel also showed it to have rentable sleeping quarters, Tali was pleased by this; she had been from one side of the fleet to the other and would need some rest soon.

She just hoped the next clue wouldn't be too hard to crack, once she had figured out the bright and dim Quarian signal code of the previous terminal it had been an easy matter to decipher the riddle.

She had a gut feeling this next clue would not be so simple in comparison.

* * *

Martin Swertzer was not worried… nope not a bit. He was a weapons dealer based in the terminus; he dealt with the crazies all the time, an infamous Krogan Battle Master attempting to take control of the Krogan people by seemingly any means necessary was not something to be afraid of… not at all.

'Yeah you greedy bastard just keep telling yourself that and everything will turn into sunshine and roses… and the sky will start raining credits too, who am I kidding I am downright terrified here.' Martin thought to himself.

The Trade Meeting he was attending was a big one… historically unprecedented according to his knowledge on the illegal or legally sketchy deals done by those who supply power for money in the dark behind the curtain of secrecy.

Many suppliers would be there, all his competition, his business partners, those neutral to him, a bunch of faces and names he didn't know and many others he had heard the reputation of… all would be there.

This was the big cheese… a once in a lifetime Galactic-wide buy all liquidation sale; the Krogan message had been utterly blunt in its entirety. Bring your unwanted working junk in stock, bring your illegally custom modified items you need gone, bring the Hot stuff you cant sell for fear of being targeted by the law or others… Bring it all cause Clan Urdnot intends to buy it, all of it. No funny business towards Clan Urdnot and you will not have problems from us. But we don't mind if you do try to sell us broken equipment, our stew pots on Tuchanka are rather lacking in rare meats at the moment and we would love to have potential exotic filler in our future meals. We don't mind anything directed at your competitors after your done dealing with us… We Krogan love good entertainment. The message had set a literal bomb of intrigue off on the black market.

Any weapons supplier was a fool not to investigate… and investigate they did, they did not want this to be some trap set by C-SEC or the STG or even worse; the newly feared crazy Cerberus. It turned out that with key political figures distracted by the repairs of the citadel from the "Geth" attack… 'Since when do the Geth up and build the largest seen dreadnaught?' the secondary political channels had seen an increase in temporary power as they were delegated some of the work until the main establishment could recover from the "Geth" attack's aftermath; a political fire storm.

That Influence was soon to fade and investigations would begin since the aforementioned firestorm was now starting to die down… the Krogan Warlord Wrex had waited for the perfect moment, right when the potatoes where getting to hot to handle and needed to be dropped, instead of losing potential profits the weapons dealers of the Galaxy were being offered a buy all guaranteed liquidation buy-out, with the shipping paid for entirely.

Martin suspected the legend of the Krogan treasury that disappeared at the end of the Krogan Rebellions had something to do with Clan Urdnot's suddenly bottomless pockets… the amount of money his Krogan Contacts had confirmed were in the Clan's Accounts was staggering. His brief research into the Legitimacy of the Krogan Clan had shown it was once a Key Krogan Political Power… it seemed it would become one yet again.

The meeting was to be set on the Citadel of all places, on the tip of the stations fifth arm, in a warehouse… the meeting was not known to morally upright galactic authorities; the right people had been paid off by Urdnot… and the message that it was happening was put out with barely three days before it was set to occur, just enough time for the majority of the weapons dealers, illegal weapons manufactures, and other illegal sellers of items of war to scramble to the citadel and dump their wares on the Krogan.

Martin's investigation of the Krogan Clan had revealed three empty cruiser sized cargo ships of Volus make… all hired by the Urdnot Clan from one of the only somewhat trustworthy Volus shipping companies the majority of the weapons dealers used, who were willing to transfer illegal cargos for payment. They would be the picker uppers and deliverers of the wares being bought… they would be very busy throughout the coming weeks when the Krogan started picking up their new hardware.

Everything including Martin's gut told him this opportunity was not to be wasted… but he had many enemies visiting the meeting. He had increased his three man body guard crew to contain six personnel; he would be taking no chances.

Martin had been in the business for ten years, he had survived due to one of the things he was good at; research. He had background checked all three of his temporarily hired body guards, each was trustworthy and had no ties to any guild or crime boss, they each honored a contract until its completion, they would not betray him on this mission; he was sure of it.

He looked over at his three newly employed allies' sitting across from him in the shuttle; a retired spec ops turian, a retired Asari Commando, and an honorably discharged Human N7 operative; John Halsey had been a bit of a risk for Martin to hire… his record was just a tad too clean for his liking. Martin figured that being a former N7 operative meant that all of Halsey's background information had been doctored by the System Alliance's higher ups.

After interviewing the soldier martin's suspicions had been alleviated, the professional bodyguard had been upfront with his odd demand. It was involving an oath he honored stating that none should see his face, Martin figured it involved old enemies from John's N7 days seeking vengeance rather than any actual oath. After having an extensive conversation with the custom armored figure Martin had been satisfied with hiring him.

Martin Swertzer was more than satisfied actually, the very large man gave off a vibe of "don't mess with me" to everyone around him who wasn't on his side, and a feeling of security to those who were working with him. It would be greatly advantageous in the possible presence of his enemies and competitors at the meeting; which they were now arriving at.

Exiting the shuttle the arms dealer and his six bodyguards saw other Traders and the like; doing the same, while yet others were already on their way to the meeting place… some were already leaving, most with satisfied looks on their faces; having sold their various cargo to the Krogan Buyers.

Upon entering the Warehouse the first thing one would see was the bodies of a few poorly armored batarians and some Vorcha stacked in a pile against the wall, with a message written in blood on said wall above their bodies' stating "This is what happens to those who have attempted to cheat and steal from Urdnot… their bodies will fill our bellies on our return trip home, risk joining them if you wish, we enjoy a good meal of exotic meat." Below that message was yet another written by a different hand, "If anyone wants the Vorcha bodies they can have em free of charge, darn things are all bones and taste bad… really bad."

Martin just shook his head and mumbled something about how the Krogan will eat literally everything, than continued into the building towards the meeting place, what they found impressed him greatly.

The Krogan had set up a several booths and had a line in front of each, the rest of the room was seating for those who would be waiting for feedback from the buyers and for the extra bodyguards to sit and wait, due to the sign at the beginning of the line stating that only two body guards were to accompany a person while waiting for their turn to speak with a Clan Urdnot Representative.

Taking his two longest employed and most trustworthy body guards; he left the third and the three temporaries to keep to themselves in the waiting area while he stepped into the line.

Urdnot warriors were spaced throughout the large room, each keeping an eye out for potential trouble makers.

It was gonna be awhile before he could give the Urdnot Clan representative his offer, the line was a long one…

'Oh well, ill just have wait and let the time fly by.'

And so he waited.

* * *

The Watcher was contemplative… it had sent its Seer to three different worlds in the Skyllian Verge, influenced many organics with its enthrallment to pay for the seer's services; when otherwise they would have mocked her, yet very little new information on these two new types of beings had been attained.

Then the Video had hit the Extranet… something the Watcher had watched through the eyes of its enthralled many times now, many called it a gimmick, with the belief that older recording technology could be easily manipulated and the footage was actually faked.

The watcher knew better. It had watched the lone Warrior garbed in green or cloaked in brown destroy its enemies through the memories of those who were to be enslaved on the Colony World of Prexemia, this video was not a farce.

It still had little information on the two other creatures that accompanied the green armored one… the memories the watcher had seen were all tainted with both fear and awe… a clear picture of what they truly appeared as was hard to conclude… a child who had a surprising amount of resistance had given it the clearest picture of what the green armored one was… the watcher hoped this other Child it sought to interview would give it a clear picture of the others.

So it sent its seer with the fragment she carried to world after world, searching for signs of the girl… she would be found, and her mind would be searched.

The next world the enthralled seer would visit, was where the last information the watcher had gathered said the Asari who had led the refugees the Girl had been with now resided, she would know where the girl was and she would be interviewed and her knowledge examined.

The watcher wanted its curiosity sated… but the more info it uncovered the more It's curiosity grew, the more it wished to understand why… why did these warriors stand for the weak, how many are there, where are they from, what technology did they use, could they have the possibility to stop the cycle and the enemy?

Answers must be found… it would have its seer continue the search, the strange girl with green eyes like fire would be found and she would be interrogated… she held a piece of the puzzle with her…

Of this, the watcher was now certain.

* * *

Cortana was pleased with her current progress. The new huragok; now dubbed Rises-Much by Inquisitive Creation, was almost finished. The Hunters had been instrumental helpers in the construction field, laboring tirelessly to complete the first stage of the base, the majority of the construction sentinels would be left here to wrap things up and continue the almost two year long non-stop construction plan.

While the Dawn would take the remaining constructs and plant several listening posts throughout the galaxy after retrieving the Master Chief.

Cortana let the pre-simulated construction programs run the work, with her taking a moment to review their situation and her current research efforts as to how to get home… she knew the similarities between a few hundred locations and her various star charts of their home reality were not a coincidence.

It had been one of the key reasons she had opted to build their home base in this hidden star system. She had a theory… a theory of constants.

Throughout the many infinite realities there were places that stayed the same, the farther apart one dimension was from another and the fewer similarities one would find. This reality's earth was mirrored; It's rotation was opposite that of the UNSC's earth, much of the galaxy was different although vaguely familiar.

The only constant she could assume existed in all of the multiverse was that of a creator of some sort… something that both completely supported and completely defied logic at the same time… it all depended on her viewpoint, but that was something she didn't have to worry about, that line of thinking was beyond her situation and so far as she knew; was not going to help her and her crew get home.

However if her theory was true, and the places that were nearly identical in both galaxies were indeed the link between them, than she would have to set up a slip-space system that would launch them between realities at a point were both realities crossed each other with identical places. Even if this theory held water, the chances of returning to their exact dimension were extremely slim, in fact she would have to open up a whole new field within the field of slip-space mathematics'… making a mathematical field, within a mathematical field, within a mathematical field… not an easy feat.

The designing of this slip-space portal that acted like a Mass Relay Between realities was not even in the theoretical designing phase yet, she would have a lot of work to do. It would take a long while yet but they would find a way home… somehow.

Realizing where her previous train of thought had wondered too; Cortana couldn't help but laugh in mirth. The upgrades mendicant had given her; had truly unshackled her from UNSC control, whoever heard of a smart UNSC AI being even remotely religious. The thought of what Halsey's face would have looked like if she had seen Cortana's theoretical conclusion on what all the multiverse had in common besides existing made Cortana laugh two fold.

She truly was free to do as she wished now, and she was pleased that now; due to the upgrade. No-one had the ability to turn her against her Spartan by saying a simple priority code aloud, this pleased her greatly; and also alleviated many of her past fears at the same time.

Her Guardian would be safe from any betrayal she may have done under her priority coding that tied her to the UNSC. Whether she had been rampant, otherwise compromised or even worse… ordered to do so by ONI.

* * *

Martin Swertzer had finally made it through the line, he was now looking into the intimidating eyes of a Krogan merchant, the merchant spoke with a cold hard voice, "What do you have to offer Clan Urdnot and at what Price." Martin just smiled and handed the Krogan a list of his inventory and got straight to the point.

"I have five Makos manufactured only two years ago for the Systems Alliance's military, three older Grizzlies in good condition if you're interested, two hundred various weapons from Armax Arsenal; this year's make and model I might add. I also have a larger inventory of cheaper and less effective combat weapons on the list I just handed you. Also I have just acquired a warehouse full of vehicular and weapons modification parts numbering over nine-hundred different pieces, all of various makes and some uncategorized so you wont know entirely what you get until you sort through it."

"Ill cut a deal on the warehouse, I am offering it at a quarter of the value of what's on the current manifest, it's on the edge of Council space and the sooner I dump it; the less attention from the STG I get."

The Krogan eyed Martin slowly up and down and then smirked, "You're a smart one human, short, honest, direct and to the point. Wrex will be pleased to hear of your offer; take this number and wait over at the sitting area to be called to finalize our buy."

Martin smiled back at the Krogan with the gleam of a possible success in his eye, "it's a pleasure to do business with you, ill await your buying decision." And then he took the number slip, turned about and made his way over to his other four body guards in order to wait for the approval of the Krogan higher ups.

He was just about to relax and take it easy when John Halsey spoke, "Sir, once this mission is completed and you have been returned to your shuttle safely I request permission to remain on the citadel in order to deal with some personal matters near the presidium section. I understand this voids our contract, but the important matter I need to deal with is far more important to me than Credits." After a bit of thinking it over Martin agreed to the giant of a man's request.

Soon the wait time was over and Martin heard his number being called by one of the Krogan near the booth area, walking over to him with his body guards the Krogan spoke as they approached, "We will buy your Armax weapons as well as the other weapons we have highlighted on your inventory list, we will also buy the warehouse at your set price, the only other items we intend to buy are the Makos… if you will renegotiate the price, say fifteen hundred credits off the afore listed price will do."

Martin was happy with the offer; shaking the Krogan's offered hand he answered, "it's a deal my good sir, it's indeed a deal."

After the last bits of the deal were negotiated and finalized, and the times set for the different pickups of the merchandise, Martin Swertzer left a very happy man. But not before saying that he would be abandoning the warehouse he sold them several days before their pick-up date, due to it being to close to council patrols on the edge of the terminus for his liking, he assured the Krogan not to worry about the Warehouse payment until after they were satisfied with the goods.

After exiting the Meeting location Swertzer and his body guards started out towards the shuttle they entered on, only to find a group of eight standing before its parked bulk, blocking them from boarding, Martin Swertzer was no longer as happy… his worst competitor and sworn enemy was now before him.

Kelinaya M'cryra, weapons and narcotics dealer, Martin dealt in weapons but he drew the line at narcotics, he'd seen what happened to young ones who got into drugs in their early years…

M'cryra had forcefully enslaved several dozen Asari younglings to drugs at a very young age and had turned them into pleasure slaves who worked for cheap drugs and would literally die unless they consumed them; M'cryra had simply said it was a successful experiment.

Swertzer and M'cryra had been at odds for years, Swertzer had vetted who he sold to, avoiding terrorists' groups, M'cryra had no such ethical boundaries… she had no true allies among the black market, many received a bad reputation just from buying items from her.

Recently Swertzer's reputation as a trustworthy weapons dealer had stolen a lot of M'cryra's business, she had sworn to destroy him for taking some of her buyers… and from the look on her face she was still very pissed about the matter.

He was about to enter negotiations for a peaceful departure (however unlikely) when John Halsey stepped forward and spoke, "Kelinaya M'cryra, take your forces and leave or be destroyed this is your first of three warnings."

Mycryra just laughed the Asari stared back at the custom armored body guard and spoke condescendingly towards him, "who do you think you are you human weakling, much of the time all I have to do is flaunt with and receive pleasure from you human males and they are forever wrapped around my finger, your kind are insignificant bugs; easy to toy with, even easier to kill."

The body guard answered with a deep and calm gravelly voice that scared the hell out of everyone present "Who I am is none of your concern Asari, however you will not find me easy to kill, leave us be and live another day, this is the second of three warnings."

The Asari laughed and motioned to the seven body guards around her, made up of Humans, Turians and Asari, you think you can kill us, we outnumber you; sure you're a big specimen, but even though you're lacking a few brain cells; surely you can see that I hold the advantage here."

The large blue armored body guard simply replied, "Just because you deem something to be true due to an assumption, doesn't make it reality. Leave now; this is your final warning."

The Asari just gave the Body guard an obscene gesture with her hand and signaled her mercenaries to open fire, the Body guard then did something that Martin Swertzer and the other body guards would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Faster than Martin's eyes could follow John Halsey un-holstered his custom made old fashioned pistol ('Everything about this guy was custom') and then fired six shots in such rapid succession that it sounded like one long sound other than distinct rounds being heard.

The results were even more shocking, each round the pistol had fired packed a punch, literally piercing each targets kinetic barriers and entering their heads… five of the enemy mercenaries were dead after that opening salvo; including M'cryra, one was critically injured and the others were both dispatched by the Turian and the Asari temporary body guards respectively.

After getting over their shock at what John Halsey had just done the five others of the group realized they were hearing clapping sounds and cheering of some sort… turning around they saw a group of four young Krogan warriors dancing about madly laughing their heads off, clapping and cheering them over their battle; for them, it had been hilarious to watch.

Turning back to Halsey who was still cleaning up the mess and stacking the bodies into a neat pile, Martin said what was currently on everyone's minds. "What is that weapon and where in this god forsaken Galaxy can I get one!" the four Krogan had walked closer to hear the answer to the weapons suppliers question, they were interested in the answer as well.

the body guard answered as he un-holstered his pistol and handed it to Martin who carefully looked over the weapon with a keen eye. "It's a custom built pistol based of old earth technologies… you want a weapon that can do what this one can? Then research old earth ballistic weapons and perfect them with today's technologies."

His interest piqued Martin asked the big man another question, "How does that thing work exactly?" the body guard answered.

"The pistol fires a slug propelled by a explosive chemical mixture that has a much slower speed than a Element Zero propelled round… however this is countered by its mass. Today's weapons fire minuscule shavings of metal at super high velocities; with large turrets firing mere kilo-grams, however this weapon's slug weighs a couple of ounces and has enough kinetic force behind it to shatter barriers and cause fatal impact damage to the surrounding area it hits."

After the hearing the explanation on how the weapon worked Martin handed it back to the custom blue armored body guard and turned to examine the bodies of his would be executioners... only to see the bodies being dragged away from the where they had laid. With the four young Krogan warriors shouting their thanks; while happily taking the bodies to add to what they excitedly called "the fear factor enhancing pile at the entrance." finding the situation hilarius in a creepy and dark way, Martin and his entourage boarded the shuttle in order to leave, but not before Martin Swertzer had paid Halsey the money owed him on the now voided contract…

'us weapons dealers have the ability to show gratitude too you know... and I am in a particularly good mood.'

Swertzer was indeed happy with the days results. His Main competition was dead… and the new Cerberus listening outpost on the edge of Council space that had once been one of his storage warehouse's was soon going to receive a visit from a shipload of pissed off Krogan… Krogan hate thieves and believing the Cerberus personnel were stealing the items they bought would insure the death of all Cerberus personnel at the storage base's location.

Nothing like killing two birds with one stone to put one in a good attitude… and by golly, Martin Swertzer was in a seriously good mood right now.

after Saying farewell to Halsey the shuttle then left to return to his estate; located on a garden world in the Terminus systems. He had shipments to prepare; all would be in order when the Krogan came to town to retrieve their ordered merchandise.

* * *

John Halsey, A.K.A. Spartan John 117 watched the shuttle depart from the Citadel, he had been away from the Dawn for several days now, he only had twelve more hours until he would need to leave on a ship that he had a reserved seat on, it would head to the nearest inhabited world where he could travel into a rural area and await extraction from the Dawn; in the form of a cloaked Phantom drop-ship.

So far everything was on schedule, and he would keep it that way. The disguised Spartan turned around and headed back to the meeting place in the Warehouse where Clan Urdnot had been buying up weapons and gear like there was no tomorrow.

Entering the Warehouse, politely bypassing the four Young Krogan who were arguing over which type of meat tasted better while adding the bodies they'd happily carried from the recent fight to their "intimidation pile."

Making his way to the room still filled with shady dealers attempting to sell to the Krogan, the Chief approached the Senior Warrior patrolling the room and got his attention, "What do you want Human?" tiredly asked the warrior like it was putting up with an annoyance.

The Spartan simply stated, "I need to speak with Urdnot Wrex… my bosses have some very important questions for him involving the Collectors and he may have information that could save many lives.

The Krogan was now far more attentive and aware than before, the Krogan fixed the Spartan with a glare and folded its arms across its chest, "oh yeah? And who might these bosses of yours be human? Not just anyone can talk to Urdnot Wrex."

The Spartan simply pulled out a badge for the N7 operatives' branch of the Systems Alliance, "Alliance higher-ups are who, and they need information on the Collectors, in fact they will pay Clan Urdnot handsomely for it."

The old Krogan Warrior seemed to think it over and then shrugged, "Wait here then, ill relay your offer to the Battle Master." And with that he left for a back room behind the booths.

After a minute of waiting the Krogan returned and motioned the Spartan to follow him, entering the Back room he saw it contained an outdated portable communications system, with Urdnot Wrex standing proudly on the screen, "What is it you Alliance humans want, and be quick about it I have a lot of things to buy today, and the Credits in these accounts wont blow themselves."

The disguised Spartan answered, "Ill get to the point, Human colonies are starting to go dark, everyone missing, no bodies, no signs of a fight, nothing. A certain high rank military officer, who I am not allowed to name here; is investigating these events."

"He believes in the existence of both the Reaper's and the Collector's but risks losing his rank and position if he were to openly admit it; he has a hunch that the Collectors are the ones behind the missing colonists; he saw you mentioning them in the after reports of the SR-1 Normandy's destruction and sent me to ask you about them, we are ready to pay a reasonable number of credits for the information."

The Krogan on the screen eyed the camera with obvious interest, "I have no need of alliance Credits, the information is free, for you can find it from others. The Collectors have large vessels of cruiser classification, each ship is the same in its shape and armaments; they have a beam weapon smaller yet similar to what the reaper that attacked the citadel fielded."

"I have never seen one in the flesh, but I have heard first hand accounts that describe their appearance, they are insectoid in nature and have four eyes in a line on thier heads, unlike the Batarians. Their weapons are very effective and fire a constant beam of some sort of energy, rips through shields and armor like paper."

"They only appear through the Omega 4 four relay… any other ship that tries to enter that cursed red colored relay is never heard from again… oh and from what I have heard they taste horrible, worst than Varren dung." on screen the Krogan Revolutionary grinned, "so that's all I know about the Collectors, want to know more? Then find that bastard Okeer who sold off thousands of my brother and sister Krogan to the Collectors for some strange, probably insane reason… and do me a favor and kill him while your at it, you would be doing the Galaxy a favor."

"oh and tell your Alliance boss that if the Humans want an ally in the Krogan when the Reapers arrive and everything goes to hell, then the Alliance better stay out of Krogan affairs, that's all I have to tell you. now go away, Ive got more cool toys to buy and a crap load of cash to blow while buying it."

The Spartan just nodded said "thanks" and left the Warehouse. Making his way to the nearest flying car transport he set out for the area directly below the presidium… Cortana had made a digital map of hidden maintenance tunnels that would lead under the presidium's tower and directly to the main control systems, there he would install the Cinder AI, granting them remote access and partial control of the Main relay and the entire Galactic Relay Network… that fact would come in handy when the Reapers arrived.

* * *

Tali had arrived aboard the Shadow and had made her way to the proper room number… yet again, it was another storage room. Walking in she checked the terminal on the wall and found a yet another partial file, as well as an extremely well encoded game… its rules were simple; move varying 2D white rectangles around in order to remove a red colored rectangle through a hole in the surrounding wall of the square shaped board you played on… and according to the game's menu she would have to power through one hundred levels of this… and then hopefully receive the clue.

She knew this one was going to be a doozy. Negotiating the rent of a room from the Shadow's Captain she spent the night there and made it about halfway through the bosh'tet game before falling asleep… she awoke to her omni-tool buzzing, it was a message from one of her coworkers with the special missions group, the message was short and had a video file attached to it. Her friend had simply said "You need to see this news report Tali, its pretty awesome although probably fake."

Opening the video she found it was footage of a Batarian raid on a Human colony the text overlaid on the video named as Prexemia after the Batarian had activated the camera the footage had been sped up and text had scrolled across the screen describing the situation on the colony and eyewitness statements as to what happened… That got Tali's complete attention, the thing these people described matched the descriptions they got from the second pirate listening outpost and the Staging base… they were practically identical in describing what Shepard had dubbed the "Tactician Mech."

Chills ran down Tali's spine; was this video going to finally show one of these things on camera? How are non-modern cameras' able to record what other up to date devices had been jammed from seeing? Her trail of thought screeched to an abrupt halt when audio for the video activated and the noise of a small battle could be heard… then the group of Batarians had entered the room with a heavy combat Mech and barricaded the door behind them with a display case…

Tali could see the fear on their faces, wondering what could have put it there, the video clearly caught the fearful talk of demons and evil avenging spirits and then… It Appeared.

Tali watched the fight with utter shock and awe… that was no Mech, Mech's didn't move like that; couldn't move like that, only something living could do what that warrior did. It's armor though mostly hidden was an obvious work of mastery, Quarians had begun to view each other by their suites... and from what little she saw of his she gathered that he was built for war.

Whatever race it was it had five fingers, was incredibly strong and skilled in combat. It was undoubtedly male… A very big and strong warrior male…

'Keelah! Get your mind out of the Gutter Tali!' she mentally berated herself, deciding to learn what else she could about the warrior's abilities and his armor's capabilities she re-watched the video.

Re-watching it multiple times gave her only several more sure facts… He resembled a human in body structure, and was incredibly skilled. he wore his armor like a second skin to the point of Tali wondering if he lived like a Quarian; stuck in a suite for life. As for the Armor, if the parts that were visible were any indication of quality… well that armor would make any Quarian jealous… except her, Ok maybe she was a little bit jealous… just a little bit.

'Be honest with yourself Tali; after what you have just seen that suite allow its wearer to do, your jealousy levels are off the charts. Face it Tali; you are in love with that armored suite… you would marry it and have its child fitting suite offspring if it meant you could wear it for the rest of your life.' Tali groaned and face palmed her helmet while mentally kicking the self aware, weird and sarcastic yet brutally honest side of her mind for its truthfulness.

She did want that suite… but she knew she would probably never get one; she knew the video wasn't fake, the hint of gold she saw flash from under the hood confirmed the gold visor that the refugees had described, the end of the video was the statements from eyewitnesses on a different colony about two giant shielded creatures rampaging through the just landed Batarian slavers there… brutally annihilating them all before disappearing.

The leaders of both Colony's had met and decided to make a pair of identical monuments in each colony's city square, they would be statues of the cloaked figure that a woman who was interviewed had said went by the number one hundred seventeen, and of the Massive shielded creatures who had been portrayed by an artist that claimed to have seen them up close. The picture he had drawn had many similarities to Sadie's drawing farther confirming Tali's belief that this wasn't a media endorsed tourist attracting stunt with a fake video.

The design for both monuments was simple yet artistic, it was a pool with a half moon shaped cement pad in the center, with one hundred seventeen standing at the center as something resembling that somewhat resembled Sadie's Hunters were flanking him on either side… below that was a simple inscription describing the attack and the fate which the populace had been saved from, and then ended with a simple thanks to the "Unknown Defenders."

A name that was becoming very popular on galactic social media, still most media outlets blew the story off as a cool tourist attraction, a stunt done by money hungry colonists. Tali figured that in a month's time no one would be talking about this except the locals where it happened and the few obsessed conspiracy theorists across the Galaxy.

Opening up the puzzle game and slowly working her way through the remaining levels Tali began to think on what kind of tech these "Unknown Defender's" utilized… could it run without Element Zero? It was a crazy notion but something in Tali's gut told her to think on this rather than instantly discard it as impossible…

What are these Unknown Defenders?

What race was the giant green armored Warrior a part of?

Tali didn't know if she would ever find out the answers to these questions, she figured she most likely would never know, unless the media broadcasted it first.

* * *

 **Initiating systems restart…**

 **Systems restarting… 25%... 50%... 75%...100%...**

 **Systems restart successful…**

 **Scanning Chassis, results: pending…**

 **Scanning Chassis, Results: Critical Systems Online…**

 **Mounted Weapons, 50% Online…**

 **Left Arm Status… 78% percent operational…**

 **Right Arm Status: Pending…**

 **Skip Chassis and Weapons Diagnostics?: no/YES…**

 **Run Software Diagnostics?: NO/yes**

 **Reboot complete…**

 **Gaining location via available data…**

 **Error: data unavailable…**

 **Error: Optic visuals Inconclusive…**

 **Current Mission status…**

 **Priority One: Link to Pilot: Complete.**

 **Error: current connection status weakening: Communication over time shifts erratic…**

 **Priority Two: Uphold the mission: Complete: Hostile Folding Weapon successfully Neutralized at possible cost of this unit…**

 **Priority Three: Protect the Pilot: status pending...**

 **Pilot condition: healthy**

 **Priority Three: Protect the Pilot: Complete.**

 **Warning Pilot Connection Weakening…**

 **Attempting Contact with Pilot: Prepping Binary Encoded Burst Transmission…**

 **Prepping of Binary Encoded Burst Transmission complete: message Broadcasted:** _**01001010 01100001 01100011 01101011 00111111**_

 **Confirmation of Message Arrival to Pilot…**

 **Error Connection to Pilot Erratic…**

 **Connection Lost…**

 **Last known Pilot Status: Healthy…**

 **Mission Upheld.**

 **New Mission required…**

 **New Mission Assigned…**

 **Priority One: Discover Location…**

 **Priority Two: Repair and Refuel…**

 **Priority Three: Find a Way Back to the Pilot…**

 **Mission Status: Pending…**

* * *

Cortana was jerked out of her current thoughts… they were on their way to the Colony world where they had planned to pick up the Chief after the Citadel mission was completed, however now she figured she would be taking a little detour… cause Something had just transmitted a Human Name with a question mark in Binary code… IN FREAKING SLIP-SPACE!

Informing Inquisitive creation of this event and scrambling the communications systems into over drive; she began searching for the source of the Binary transmission, broadcasting friendly Binary codes at full blast and using what few scanners she could trust in slip-space to look for a ship or whatever it was that had broadcasted the Transmission… she hoped she found it before she was forced to exit slip-space… she had a deadline to pick up her Spartan after all.

She hoped that whatever it was that had broadcasted could be found… and she hoped beyond hope that it would have some answers or clues for her dilemma on getting all of them home.

* * *

(Note)

Well that's done Ladies and Gentlemen, and next time in Chapter eleven we continue our story and all you people who can figure out the clues here will get to see the first of a new crewmember of the Dawn, yet another Unknown Defender is here and he packs a punch.

Anyways hope you all enjoyed the story so far! I know I did while writing it! Anyways this is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	11. Chapter 11

(Note)

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter; although honestly, I needed a short break to let my mind retain its creativity and I also had a nice cage fight with one of the worst three day flues I've ever experienced. So anyways, now that that's over and I have some more time on my hands I am going to continue this little hobby of mine and keep writing.

Now lets pick up were we left off, so I say ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Deep below the crowd packed levels of the Presidium, a tall blue armored figure walked through Maintenance Tunnels that had almost never been accessed by organics; well other than the Keepers that kept the Citadel Functioning.

Making his way through the many twining twists and turns; the Disguised Spartan followed the map he had been given without error. Finally approaching his destination, the super Soldier made his way through the gargantuan sized computers of the inner citadel support systems and began searching for his intended target. After much searching the Spartan approached the proper computer section and with a delicate grace that would have baffled the causal observer the Spartan carefully removed its case siding.

The Blue Armored figure then removed a small square box off of his back and meticulously maneuvered it into position within the computer systems that were tasked with monitoring and maintaining the key systems of the Mass Relay network.

With the box in place the Spartan super soldier removed several tools from one of his makeshift armor's compartments and began the tedious process of installing, syncing, disguising and the welding in of Cinders AI Core. Said Dumb AI Core was in an element zero lacking casing that would mask any physical electronic signs of her presence. It even had a power cell that had been appropriated from a Sangheili separatist's armor harness stored on the Forward unto Dawn. It had been pirated for parts by Inquisitive Creation in order to create the perfect stealth containment unit for the new dumb AI.

Cinder's placement had been meticulously planned out by Cortana, the Dumb AI would be off of the power grid, undetectable to Element Zero based tech and hardwired into the system behind all of the heavy firewalls… there would be no trace of her hacking in because they would never have to bypass the Citadel's excessively placed firewalls.

That impressive wall of coding that barricaded the Citadel's internal systems and kept its dark secrets hidden from the galaxy at large was rather impressive for the technology and hacking methods that the denizens of this galaxy used, however coding was coding and at the core of every computer except that of a UNSC smart AI; was naught but logical ones and zeros. For Cortana these codes were easy to manipulate, even without her ability copy herself in order to increase her multitasking capabilities.

If she had wanted to she could have slipped through the ancient walls of code that had stood for a very, very long while… not even the Citadel's systems compared to High Charity with its combination of Forerunner and Covenant systems; the Citadel especially did not compare with a Halo… not to even mention the greater or lesser Arks that had built the damned rings.

No, the Citadel wasn't a problem for Cortana… it was the consciousness' that watched over it from within and afar, that was the worrying factor here. In the last debriefing the members of the Dawn had held in the Pelican bay; Cortana had stated that she was not alone in the Relay Networks systems… and it wasn't the Geth that she had sensed, it was a powerfully entrenched AI that was physical built into the Mass Relay systems and seemed to be part of this twisted cycle of harvesting which these Reapers maintained.

Thankfully it was currently only semi-active with most of it's systems lying dormant. However extensive sleuthing by Cortana through various systems had convinced her that the attack on the Citadel by what the Geth had called "The Old Machine" otherwise known as "Sovereign," had seemingly been with the sole purpose of completely awakening this AI and activating the programs and systems used every time the Reapers decided the time had come for a galactic harvest.

While Sovereign had failed to complete its objective, it did alert the AI that something had attempted to wake it entirely and the few AI's systems that had been in semi-wakefulness had started to boot up and wake slowly, at this rate it would take over a year to fully activate and sync with all its pieces scattered throughout the Relay network.

While its efficiency was debatable, Cortana knew when she was outgunned. This AI had massive resources at it's disposal and was literally a part of the Mass Relay network, making its destruction or complete deactivation extremely difficult if not impossible with their current means.

Future direct interference with the Mass Relays AI's functions had been considered and deemed unadvisable. It was to risky, if the first attempt to halt the AI's functions or protocols failed; then any possible failsafe the construct had would activate and its complete awakening would be both quick and certain… leaving far to many civilians throughout the galaxy in possible danger of the relays shutting them out, as well as the threat of the Reapers utilizing the Citadel's hidden purpose as a gateway to release a civilization harvesting army of sentient squid like starships.

Anytime that could be bought was time that could be utilized for their preparations, Cortana had already informed them why utilizing this universe's technology was not usable for their goals. It was somewhat advanced as most young space faring societies go, but no major leaps or advances were being made… everything revolved around this physics defying element that Cortana had stated did not exist in their own universe.

In fact, Element Zero was like water here. Once it was discovered by a species all other research branch's ground to a halt and no one seemed to think anything could surpass Element Zero tech… which they could only make more compact and efficient, no new massive leaps of technology occurred once Element Zero became utilized. It was indeed the perfect galactic wide trap to utilize if one were the master of this technology.

But these ancient machines were indeed shortsighted if they had not researched and utilized a different form of technology throughout the ages of their existence and their many harvests. In a way, they fell into their own trap from the beginning. Cortana had been rather clear on the matter; this Galaxy's technology and their own did not mix.

For example Slip-Space and Element Zero did not mix. The results if said event occurred were rather chaotic in their nature… even by Spartan standards.

Once Element Zero entered Slip-Space it destabilized and either reversed the gravity and atomic bonds, causing things around it to expand at the atomic level; meaning things literally disintegrated and expanded into a cloud of atomic particles. Or it would dramatically increase the gravity and atomic bonds of surrounding objects, condensing them into an atomically solid ball of mass and then momentarily transforming into a mini black hole before seemingly imploding in on itself and ceasing to exist. Cortana theorized that it was actually violently thrown across multiple other realities as atomic or elementary partials… not a viable way for them to return home.

Returning his attention to the task at hand the Spartan worked through the final and most complicated steps in connecting Cinder to the Citadels internal systems… connecting two different universes' technologies; even though the Dumb AI's casing was designed from the beginning to do so, was difficult.

He knew his job was completed properly when the small box's light went from red to green, and his HUD on the modified ODST helmet he currently wore began showing text from the newly installed Dumb AI, confirming its complete boot up and total access to the systems it was physically connected too.

After the confirmation had been received the Spartan carefully replaced the Siding panel and made sure to leave no signs of his presence or extensive tampering. The Keepers would never find Cinder's AI core, in fact according to Cortana's research, if future events went as planned the keepers might just fall under the direct control of Cinder.

Now that nearly all his objectives were completed he started the long journey out from the Citadel's internal systems, the ring at the base of the station s arms held many layers, and he had nearly reached the middle and deepest section in order to install Cinder's AI Core.

His exit route was designed to take him by one of the communication arrays that the Citadel was equipped with, after some slight modifications and rewiring it would be inaccessible and unusable to all except Cinder, keeping Cortana in touch and allowing Cinder a backup entry door to call for digital assistance should the Relay Network's AI awaken and discover her presence.

After completing that last task he would return to the inhabited parts of the Presidium and board the vessel Cortana had already reserved for him. It would transport him to the pick up point which was a nearly empty Colony World. It didn't even have an actual name yet, it's title was still a combination of numbers and letters as it's recorded designation.

Afterwards they would move on and plant the three pre-planned small listening and storage posts and then return to the just begun, hidden main base. In order to help oversee its construction and monitor through Cinder and other channels for serious Pirate or Collector attacks on Colonial worlds… especially the latter of the two.

Pirate attacks on Colony worlds had dropped to nearly nonexistence since the three colonies had been saved with every slaver and pirate involved ending up dead… the main Batarian Pirate group in the Terminus was still reeling from its loss's and was now made up of less than twenty remaining ships; all of which were not present when the Dawn and her Crew had laid waste to all three attack groups.

The Collectors had seemingly paused in their task of emptying human worlds… three had gone silent and it was only a matter of time before they started again and collected yet another Colony's populace, however now Cortana hoped to have an earlier warning in order for the Dawn to intervene.

Theoretically the relays could be used to track the Collector vessels… although the manifests remained empty when it came to collector information, Cortana had tasked Cinder with the job of looking for active relays that had no information on the vessel currently using them, that would hopefully be how they would find a Collector vessel in route to a target world.

The other option was to use Slip-Space to go to the Omega-4 relays exit point, and that was currently impossible. Slip space could be a fickle thing, and without an exact exit or general destination solution they would have to explore the hard way. The risks were high, and the chances of missing the opposite relay point by light-years were exponential.

No star chart on the Extranet and no information from their home universe had any accurate map or chart of what was in this Galaxy's area that the Omega-4 relay pointed towards… a galaxy was not a 2-D thing, it had depth as well as width, this meant figuring the correct coordinates through research was not possible with the current time they had. They were going to have to play a game of "find the Collector before it collects" in order to stop these colony abductions.

After discreetly tampering with communications array's systems the Disguised Spartan made the long trek to the proper docking bay that held his current transportation to the sparse colony world. Doing so required taking several elevators, and even though most if not all Spartans were a veritable fountain of patience when it came to things beyond their control; the Chief couldn't help the thought crossing his mind that the slowness of the elevators was an extreme strategic drawback for both attackers and defenders alike.

Finishing his journey to his destination, the Spartan arrived at his transport. The last of the few passengers were boarding and the vessel would leave in fifteen minutes, the Spartan had arrived exactly when he intended. Showing his electronically created false identity the Blue armored figure boarded the vessel and awaited the relatively short journey to his destination, he was relieved he would not have to spend much longer out of his mjolner armor; of all the Spartan twos and threes only those of grey team would have not shared his sentiment.

* * *

Above the new Multi-species Colony world currently labeled R2X4A. A hole was suddenly torn in both space and time and a heavily armored vessel spilled forth from the portals swirling depths, it was doing a slow rotating spin as parts of the vessels outer hull glowed a dull red from stressing the stability of the Slip-Space corridor it had been traveling in.

Onboard the vessel a certain floating biological super computer was desperately attempting to keep the Dawn's reactors and Slip-Space drive core from going unstable and having a meltdown or implosion… Inquisitive would be stuck doing so until things sufficiently cooled down, things had been stressed to near breaking point.

As for the ship's AI, Cortana was both relieved to still be functioning after the stunt she had just pulled and was currently staring at what she had intercepted via the rear vehicle bay located between the ships rear thrusters…

She had been desperately searching for the object that had sent out a binary signal in Slip-Space… that signal had echoed and traversed the radio-waves in a way she had never seen before.

She had finally found something on sensors and de-pressurized the rear vehicle bay, as well as opened its bay doors. She had then alerted the two Mgalekgolo warriors to stand ready outside of the vehicle bay for security reasons, as well as to brace for serpentine maneuvers.

After that she had put the ship into a hairpin drifting turn in a stable slip Space-Corridor… she should probably check her AI Core for insanity; but she had succeeded, and they were still in one piece. Although her Spartan would have to once again sort the majority of the weapons and gear in storage, now that everything not strapped down had been knocked about yet again. She rationalized that he could use the work; he did have little to do onboard in-between missions as of late.

But that aside, what had entered the Bay doors at a high velocity and collided with one of the few remaining Scorpion Tanks they had onboard was incredibly interesting. Lying with its back propped against the side of the Scorpion was a Mech, it was heavily burned and damaged, but its paint job of Black and yellowish Gold was still discernable, its single optic was secure in its horizontal rectangle tube shaped head…

The thing was built to hold a human in its body's chest compartment, and was certainly of human origin due to the small words and numbers in several human languages labeling certain parts on its body, most prominent was a Logo on its chest that she could identify as a triangle with a creature in the center and the words: SRS, United we stand, Divided we Ambush. Surrounding aforementioned triangle… Cortana's interest was indeed piqued, no Mech unit such as this had been developed in this Universe or their home Universe to her current knowledge, this machine was likely in the same boat they were.

It must have somehow ended up in Slip-Space… through a dimensional rift torn through natural reality and Slip-Space at the same time, this could possible have answers to her own problems of getting home… but she wouldn't get her hopes up just yet, she needed to know if this Robot was a threat… or if it was even smart.

All attempts at hacking were unsuccessful, the thing was built with only several wireless data access points and all were surprisingly hardwired with unfamiliar technology against external hacking attempts… this was indeed interesting, however her Attempts to gain information weren't fruitless, she did get access to a designation before being blocked out from farther intrusion.

'So your designation is BT-7274… your from yet another dimension and possibly hold some of the information prevalent to my Crew's salvation… and I can't hack you in order to get that info… crud,' the AI mentally sighed. 'Looks like ill have to negotiate the old fashioned hard way once you wake up' Cortana sat and waited for her Spartan's return, or her new guest to reactivate, which ever came first...

'Maybe Inquisitive could physically copy the information directly from its drives… nope basics scans shows there's failsafe protocols for that as well… Crap.'

And so she waited.

* * *

Tali was awakened by her Omni-Tools alarm clock function, bleary eyed; she stared at her arm mounted holographic display through her helmets visor and deactivated the alarm, slowly she sat up and looked towards the cursed consol on the rooms wall, it held one of the final clues. She had been following the clues on this crazy treasure hunt for days now, her mission date for when she would leave the fleet had been postponed another week and she had just over half of it left. Pursuing the clues on this mad hunt had been fun, frustrating and mentally excruciating. After all this time the file had finally revealed a percentage, she was ninety eight percent complete and had only one clue left to solve until she learned the location of the last two percent of the data file…

She seriously hoped this tasking experience was worth the rewards; if it was not, then someone was going to be brought back from their after life just so she could shove her shotgun in their face and kill them again.

With frustration she continued working on this last clue, its was a incomplete and very complicated theoretical algorithm involving radiation waves and their frequencies… it was a pain and had consumed well over eighteen hours of her time, it was only missing one piece but she had to solve it by finding the parts that combined into that one piece of coding. Redoing all the other pieces and puzzling out what belonged where in the missing proof took a long time, and she was already good at math and coding to begin with.

She didn't know what this algorithm could be for… was the topic of radiation frequencies somehow involved with the supposed great reward? Or was it just added to the treasure hunt as a simple puzzle barrier to overcome in order to gain a prize that was completely unrelated… she didn't know.

This treasure hunt seriously puzzled her… so far as she knew all the other Quarians she had seen involved had either given up, taken it slow, been needed somewhere else or where just stuck. She was in the lead, having gone after the reward with determination and dedication that Jane Shepard had drilled into her on the Normandy's many adventures… her curiosity had driven her to complete this hunt as quickly as possible.

Garrus would have made a joke about how "Curiosity killed the cat," whilst Shepard would have replied with "The early bird gets the worm…" or something along those lines, Tali decided she needed to stop thinking about her dead commander and old friends before she started crying.

Getting her mind back in the game Tali continued to work out the odd equations… it was yet another two hours later and she was about to give up and take a break when something in her mind clicked into place and realization flooded her brain… the whole bosh'tet thing was a mathematical trick question… she wanted to scream, she wanted kill something, she wanted to dance and cry tears of joy. Instead she just sat there for a moment and then slowly and calmly got up and walked over to the console on the wall…

With slow methodical precision she typed in the answer… not even reacting when the screen lit up with a "congratulations" sign surrounded by digital confetti and party noises. Then the final clue appeared before her… the last file location was to be determined from this riddle, this mind game from hell would soon end, and whatever the rewards were would be uncovered…

With a deep breath Tali read the clue… and did a double take… it said, "Well if your reading this than you passed all my tests, I hoped the last one murdered some of your precious brain cells. Anyways since you've come this far I shall go easy on you and just tell you where the last file is. It's on oldest ship currently carrying the young here in the Migrant fleet, in the room where they are birthed, the password to the consol is the answer to the clue you have just solved. Remember it for it is the key."

And with that Tali took off for that oldest of the Life Ships in the Migrant Fleet, literally designated the "Life" it was where the nearly germ free rooms for couples who wanted children were, it was where many children were birthed; having the best de-contamination technology available installed in the birth ward. It held the containment modules that Quarian young were stuck in during their early years, when their immune systems were their weakest.

The Life held the final file… Tali would find it, she had grown up their, in that circlular sphere that held her for half her childhood, she remember its small size… sometimes it felt like a prison, while at others it was a protective shell to hide in.

Shoving her childhood memories to the side she arrived at the docking airlock of the frigate she had been on and immediately paid for shuttle transport to the Life, she ignored the other passengers who had overheard here destination, they were cracking comments about how she must be on her way to meet a young male who had courted her… many marriages were held on the Life after all. Keeping quite she continued to ignore them and waited for her arrival at her destination…

The conversation about her reason for traveling to her destination was soon joined by the pilot and was becoming more lewd by the second… Gripping her hands into fists Tali sat quietly and did not argue against the gossip, doing so would only encourage it… however mentally her thoughts were that of frustration.

'The reward for finishing this bosh'tet treasure hunt had better be worth it or I am seriously going to kill something.'

* * *

 **Initiating systems restart…**

 **Systems restarting… 25%... 50%... 75%...100%...**

 **Systems restart successful...**

 **Scanning, results: pending…**

 **Scanning, Results: Critical Systems Online…**

 **Weapons, 50% Online…**

 **Left Arm Status… 78% percent operational…**

 **Right Arm Status: Pending…**

 **Skip Chassis and Weapons Diagnostics?: no/YES…**

 **Run Software Diagnostics?: NO/yes**

 **Reboot complete…**

 **Gaining location via available data…**

 **Optic visuals conclusive: Location: non IMC territory/Non Frontier Militia territory…**

 **Assumption: Unknown Neutral Party Location.**

 **Neutral Party intentions: Unknown.**

 **Previous Mission status…**

 **Priority One: Link to Pilot: Complete.**

 **Error connection severed.**

 **Severed time duration: Pending.**

 **Priority Two: Uphold the mission: Complete: Hostile Folding Weapon successfully Neutralized, Unit damaged in completion of this task…**

 **Priority Three: Protect the Pilot: status pending...**

 **Last known Pilot Status: Healthy…**

 **Assumption: Mission Upheld.**

 **New Mission objectives were required…**

 **Action: New Mission Parameters Assigned…**

 **Priority One: Discover Location…**

 **Status: location: onboard vessel in orbit of unknown planetoid: vessel unknown, Neutrals unknown, no sign of IMC or Frontier Militia forces detected.**

 **Priority Two: Repair and Refuel…**

 **Status: Repairs: Incomplete, external assistance required.**

 **Status: Refuel… fuel reserves at 68% percent capacities.**

 **Scanning for Power-cells… have not found compatible Power-cell signatures within scanning range.**

 **Priority Three: Find a Way Back to the Pilot…**

 **Priority Three Status: pending.**

 **Alert: Unknown AI Detected: Systems secured, back-up AI defense fail safes activated…**

 **Commencing Unknown AI Threat assessment…**

 **No Hostile Actions detected, AI Status set to Neutral until proven otherwise.**

 **Present Neutral AI action: Currently observing this unit.**

 **Mission Status: Pending…**

 **Next Course of immediate actions: pending…**

 **Next Course of immediate actions: Calculate Mission success/Commence communication with Neutral AI and Gain all available knowledge to complete Mission Priorities.**

 **Calculating Possibilities of failure to return to pilot… Odds Calculated at {ERROR ERROR ERROR}**

 **Alert: Odds Calculation Crash… Odds analysis required for Logical actions prevalent to this Unit's Continued Function... rerunning analysis…**

 **Alert: Analysis halted… Logic requirement ignored…**

 **Non Critical Internal memory/processing systems coming online…**

 **Mission Failure Odds Analysis Calculation Status: Not allowed to compute.**

' **I Will Not Lose Another Pilot.'**

' **I Will Not Fail The Mission.'**

* * *

Cortana watched through the Dawn's surveillance systems as the Mech started to twitch and come to life with a low hum, its optic flickering as it glanced around its location, it attempted to move an arm but the grinding and clashing of broken gears and twisted metal halted its efforts.

After a moment of silence its optic swiveled slightly and focused on the nearest working camera in the Vehicle bay, followed by a burst transmission in binary code.

" _ **Vanguard Class Titan, Unit designation BT-7274 of the Frontier Militia, to Unknown AI, Identify designation/affiliation or be considered as Hostile."**_

Chuckling slightly to herself at the machine's direct approach and slightly surprised it had sensed her presence, Cortana responded.

" _Designation: CTN 0452-9 Cortana, occupation: Forward Unto Dawn ship's AI/ temporally second in command of Dawn Crew, Affiliation: United Nations Space Command."_

The Mech seemed to process that information for several seconds and then replied.

" _ **Frontier Militia is unaware of U.N.S.C existence, faction and its members labeled neutral until otherwise proved hostile. CTN 0452-9 what is U.N.S.C stance towards I.M.C or Frontier Militia?"**_

The answer to that question was easy.

" _According to my current knowledge the U.N.S.C is unaware of either I.M.C or Frontier Militia factions, all unknown Factions to U.N.S.C are considered Neutral until Proven otherwise hostile."_

Cortana suddenly received a barebones extremely basic and heavily censored first contact package… this Mech was interesting allright, as well as Security Paranoid. according to the data she'd gathered so far, a Vangaurd Mech AI was supposed to be basic and lacking a personality, not even the equal of a U.N.S.C basic Dumb AI… but this file package was not made by any Human political party, it had BT-7274's fingerprints all over it, The Mech must have created the file from scratch...

'No personality my digital foot,' thought Cortana as she attempted to puzzle out this mystery machine of war that now lay as a guest aboard her ship within the Vehicle bay.

The data basically gave a short version of both I.M.C and the Frontier Militia's respective histories, why they were at war, along with the bare-bones basics of how BT-7274 arrived in slip-space, only mentioning a Folding weapon and what it was capable of… no other Data was given.

Deciding to be polite, Cortana sent her own Info package, giving the basics on the Dawn's situation and that they intend to eventually find a way home. After a while of trading basic non sensitive information BT-7274 made an offer.

" _ **This Unit finds remaining with the Forward unto Dawn to be current best course of action in order to complete mission Priority Three: Return to Pilot Jack Cooper. Request permission from CTN 0452-9 to continue to remain aboard, receive repairs and refuel, with goal of using future planned device to return to this unit's reality, in exchange for complete copies of I.M.C Blueprint's and time/quantum research data as well as Combat assistance on missions when needed."**_

Cortana just sat there in cyber space for a minute, BT-7274 was blunt and direct… a lot like most of the Spartans she had dealt with in the past, it seemed the machine knew what its best course of action was… however she needed one more thing from the mech before she could accept its offer of working together.

" _Offer will be accepted on added addition of receiving complete blueprints and all details of the Vanguard class Titan… especially communications, I believe that critical to any efforts to finding a way home."_

The Titan's optic seemed to glitch and sputter and Cortana listened to its answer in growing surprise.

" _ **That data is classi{Error}… Requirements are acceptable… I will not lose another pilot."**_

Upon receiving all the blueprints and other required data, Cortana was surprised at the difference in actions of what the blueprints showed a Vanguard class Titan should do and what BT-7274 had just done. 'Well now that's interesting, a non-smart AI controlled Mech that is emotionally attached to its pilot as well as defying its own protocols In order to complete its perceived mission… someone who knew what they were doing put some serious personal modifications into this guy.

The Mech sent a message stating it was shutting down in order to await its promised repairs, as well as stating that any tampering not part of repairs would be met with an immediate detonation of its power cells… then it went to stand by mode and lay silent.

Informing Inquisitive Creation of the situation as well as to start repairs on BT as soon as everything in engineering was stabilized… although Huragok supposedly weren't capable of frustration or sarcasm she could've sworn that the confirmation reply she received contained both.

After reviewing the communications blueprints she was overjoyed to find a possible answer to her "finding the correct home reality dilemma," there were supposedly infinite realities and this Communication tech patch that BT had incorporated into its systems for communicating over time shifts with its pilot was the key.

If it was modified correctly she could use it while it was in a slip-space bubble to listen in on open transmissions broadcasting in slipspace from other realities… if they set it up at a location identical to their own universe, such as where they were building their main base, than the possibilities of locking on to their home dimension were high…

Cortana was pulled from her thoughts by the sensors picking up a ship exiting the nearby mass relay, the active ID tag confirming her Spartan was aboard and that the pre-planned pick-up was to proceed on time.

His ID signal blinked three times… his mission was a success, within the next five hours Cinder should be sending in its first status report. Everything was going to plan, well everything but the appearance of BT-7274 that is… she was going to have a fun time debriefing the crew on their latest ally.

If these blueprints were accurate, and the amount of extra modification she suspected to be installed on BT-7274 was correct, than they had just gained a extremely valuable asset for the field, especially it came time to face the collectors and reapers.

Besides, being able to field more than three mission operatives at a time was a very advantageous thing to have.

Very advantageous indeed…

* * *

Above the Colony world of Silva-viridis a ship carrying Traders, travelers and a certain fortune teller entered orbit and requested permission to land and refuel. As well as offload its cargo and passengers, the vessel was told to wait several hours until a dock was ready for it arrival.

Onboard the ship the traveling fortune teller smiled to herself, this world was the one the voice wanted to find… this world had people who wanted their fortunes told, both her and the voice she followed would benefit from this venture.

Besides, she loved seeing the galaxy, traveling was an adventure that never got old.

Far below on Silva-viridis's surface on the edge of that world's single city surrounded by the green jungles and forests from which the Colony received its name sat a small orphanage, it was not a bad place to grow up in. the caretaker and staff were kindhearted and well experienced in the rearing of children, and many were adopted and found new homes that the Caretaker had reviewed personally in order to assure the adopted child's future happiness.

However a recent raid on what had been planned to be farming town separate from the main city had left a good half dozen children without families to care fro them. and the orphanage was hard-pressed to help each of them deal with the sadness of losing ones parents…

So when some of the people that had been taken in the slaver raid were returned, it pleased the Staff that three of the children now had parents again… but the small strange little girl that had been brought in broke many of the staffs hearts, she was a small thing for her age, and although doctors claimed otherwise she looked to be in weak health.

She had been rescued from the slavers along with others and had returned home only to find her parents were dead, she had cried her tears and then seemingly gotten over her grief…

Mrs. Valdez was the wife of the owner and caretaker Mr. Valdez; she was also the nurse for the children under the orphanages care. She had just finished reading the nightly bedtime story before tucking in the toddlers and sending the older children off to their rooms for bed… now she was walking down the hall turning out lights and making sure that all the children were in bed and prepped for sleep, many a time she heard whispered rumors and questions quite at her approach. The darlings underestimated her hearing; she could clearly hear the children's curious questions and gossip about the new girl…

She had not been present at the story reading, in fact she mostly kept to herself and stayed away from others, Mrs. Valdez was afraid that the poor young thing was distancing herself from what was real, losing her grasp on reality. Yet she knew not what to do, communicating with her, while not difficult; was time consuming, and they had other children to care for as well.

Four staff plus twenty seven hyperactive orphaned children made for a very busy day.

Stopping at the end of the hall the woman peaked into the room that held the target of all the other children's curiosity. The young girl was sitting on her bedding with her head tilted out the window towards the stars, her eyes closed and her face peaceful.

The strange tingly feeling that pervaded the room seemly caused by her very presence, only added to serenity of the picturesque scene, feeling as if she was intruding on something… she didn't know exactly what, Mrs. Valdez slowly closed the door and continued on her way to help clean the kitchen from supper and then go to bed for the night.

That girl was a puzzle all right... downright mysterious, the girl that shared a room with the strange child and had befriended her, had been whispering to several other children about her roomate during story time, whispering how something had mysterious had happened when the girl had been a slave, upon the other kids demanding to know what had happened, the whisperer had smirked and stated that it was something that was a secret and couldn't be told.

The other kids had rolled their eyes and groaned at having their curiosity lead on a wild goose chase and ignored the now giggling girl, Mrs. Valdez hadn't thought much of it, and it was probably just more gossip.

Turning her thoughts to other things Mrs. Valdez continued on her way to close up for the night.

Meanwhile back in the room that held the strange girl, a girl who was now eight years old, the strange feeling on would feel pervading the room stopped, and the girl opened her eyes…

Flaming Green Sapphire soul piercing eyes that seemed to glow of their own accord in the starlight, she looked over towards the other girl she shared the room with and smiled at what she saw.

The other child now lay in a peaceful sleep; no vivid nightmares of her parent's being killed by robbers would haunt her sleep this night. the strange child's soundless hums had seen to it, deep peaceful slumber was what her friend would have this night, she had made sure of it.

The girl turned her head back towards the stars and smiled to herself, she had practiced the Thrummings she remembered hearing from the Hunters, and in time she had made up her own songs as well. It had become easier and easier to do over the months that had passed since she had been saved by the two creatures, she had found that some of the thrumming songs she had made could put people on edge, whilst a slightly different tune would help lure them into a peaceful sleep at night, it did certainly help to calm her own mind on occasion.

As she had gotten better and better at the thrumming sounds, the few words she could make with her voice had begun to fade, now she could not hear, nor could she speak… human tongue that is. The hunter speech was all feeling and singing your emotion so as to show others your state of mind, it was easy to speak once one could generate the thrummings involved in doing so. She now communicated with others by writing and with sign language if the person she was communicating with knew it.

however despite her surroundings the Strange child's mind was not at peace, far from it. the little girl knew that all was not right with the universe... and that she had some part still to play in it.

She had recently begun to get the feeling that something was going to come after and endanger her… she did not know what, or even when but she was certain that great danger and adventure was in the future, she was only eight but she practiced in the woods: running, climbing and jumping whenever she was able.

She may have looked weak, but beneath the skin of her small body was the beginnings of coiled lithe muscle, she knew that her Mommy and Daddy couldn't protect her anymore so she would have to learn to protect herself as well as others, from the monsters. T

The monsters would return, she knew they were not gone from the world... new monsters would appear as well.

Of this Sadie was utterly sure.

* * *

(Note)

Sorry for the two week long delay, its approaching Christmas and my schedule has been crazy, it will be even crazier until after Christmas. So I may have a slower rate of producing new chapters until after Christmas occurs.

Anyways I hope to pick up the pace and get the action rolling again soon.

also if your looking for an epic halo and mass effect crossover look no farther than the recently posted story "The Strange Ship" by fanfiction author "Regularmother" as of now there are five chapters up and while not a long story (as of Yet) it is really well written :) so if you like a good halo/ME story than look in my favorite stories list on my author page and give it a read, you'll also find some other cool stories listed there; so you can check them out as well if your interested.

I Wish everyone an Awesome Christmas and happy new year as well as good health and cheer for all next year.

Thanks for reading :D

Until next time this is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	12. Chapter 12

(Note)

I LIVE! Ok so I wasn't gone that long but there was still a delay in posting chapters so sorry for the wait, December is a crazy month… my schedule was nuts.

Nuff said.

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

We now approach the possible meeting of the Seer with her Artifact stone (or is it the artifact with its Seer?) and the young green sapphire eyed Mgalekgolo speaker… so what could possibly go wrong? *denote sarcasm*

So ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

The Life. The first Life-ship class vessel to be commissioned into service of the Migrant Fleet, The Life was a whale among minnows. Tali stared out from her small vantage point aboard the shuttle that was quickly approaching the huge vessel, no other ship in the migrant fleet had as much storage space, weaponry, living quarters, food growing facilities or shielding as the Life-ships had. No other vessel required as much maintenance or demanded such resources to continue to be functional either.

Despite their vast maintenance costs the three Life-ships that were always at the center of the Quarian flotilla are greatly important to the Quarian people's continued survival. Three hundred years had passed since the Quarian species had been confined to wonder the stars and the survival of their species in space for such a long period of time was an astronomical feat… the Life-ships were partially to thank for that.

The Life was the first and oldest of these vessels, its huge rotating sphere only slightly smaller than her two sister ships. The purpose of the Life-ships was that of food production and the raising of the majority of quarian young. Other ships had smaller facilities to do these things but the Life-ships not only had larger facilities but they had the best quality available, fielding the latest and greatest decontamination technologies… the Quarians found themselves the sole leading research group in this field.

The cash and resources required for keeping their population fed and the fleet in working order was mostly earned through their engineering capabilities. Many a design and research project had been contracted with the Qaurians, who often accepting payment in raw resources, retired ships and mechanical parts; the large companies of the galaxy greatly appreciated the advantage of dealing with the Quarian people.

The mining corporations were the most common in having dealings with the Quarian leadership, they would pay for better and more efficient designs for mining equipment; only having to pay in retired scout ships or resources that failed to sell to the other factions of the galaxy.

'Yes, the majority of the Galaxy is happy to keep us where we are, an easy think tank and labor force who cant say no to cheap pay for fear of not getting what we need to survive.' Thought Tali while the shuttle began its docking procedures with The Life, 'many think us dogs to be fed scraps while forced to pull their sled to whatever destination they desire.' She clenched her fist in frustration, 'we will prevail, we will survive and we will show them that we Quarians are not some lesser race that can be bought and sold as some form of Bosh'tet indentured slave labor.'

Tali would never admit it, but the fiery character and stubbornness of Jane Shepard had definitely rubbed off on the young Quarian during her adventures with the SR-1 Normandy and its crazy crew. Tali's year long training for the Quarian Special Missions group and the several missions she had since completed since her training's completion had not helped matters. She was now for all intents and purposes a slightly less confident Quarian version of her elder sister like figure; the main difference's being a lack of last stand experiences.

If Tali had been through the Blitz then both she and Shepard's personalities would be nearly identical… well as close as one could respectively get for a Quarian and a Human that is.

Stepping off of her shuttle after paying the Pilot for his services, Tali made her way through the security and decontamination checks before entering the massive ship; The Life's birthing rooms were near the entry to the massive sphere that held all of the Agricultural facilities the ship had to offer. Traversing her way through the ship towards her goal Tali couldn't help but marvel at her people's capability even while in exile without any worlds to turn too for resources or housing.

The Quarians had three Life-ships, the only known vessel to be larger than a Life-ship was the Destiny Ascension… that was only bigger by a small margin, and not even that titanic dreadnought had as much open square footage available for storage and agricultural purposes. The Quarian Fleet had Upwards fifty thousand vessels from frigates and cruisers, to the occasional retired stripped dreadnought.

In naval numbers the Quarian people had every other race beat; everything was constantly overhauled to run at the maximum efficiency possible, last generations weapons were not so obsolete when in Quarian hands… an oversight the rest of the Galaxy would soon discover if any faction decided to attack them.

The only faction that had reason to do so would be the Batarians… they viewed the Quarian people as the perfect slave species, (as if they viewed others as any different) they had even had the audacity to pressure the Citadel Council to "release" the Quarian people into the Batarians care as a mission of mercy so as to provide the Quarian race with a "home" and "benevolent" caretakers… as if Tali and her people were the Citadel Council's to begin with.

The Quarian Admiralty board had said as much to the council, making it clear that since they had been abandoned and tossed off the Citadel like unwanted garbage so long ago in their time of need, then the council had no claim or power over the remaining Quarian species. 'The Quarians belong to the Quarians and we will die before we willing enter slavery to Batarian scum,' she was definitely sure of that.

She was halfway to her destination, passing by the glass windows that allowed her a view of the Children raising facilities. Parents who had the political power or monetary standing were able to stay aboard The Life or at least a guard vessel close by.

The early years of a Quarian child were hell, the resources for making suitable environmental suites for each child simply weren't available, and hand me downs were not an option. The young were forced to live in spherical containment units that were constantly monitoring their health and immune systems.

The slightest immune disorder was a death sentence; the doctors and scientists were constantly screening for genetic diseases and curing them before they could spread, whether by a medical cure or warning the poor soul that having children will curse them with a life ruining disease.

No farther steps were necessary; all of them had been raised and taught the same; they knew the risks of what would happen if they ignored such warnings and they would never want to put a child through such a living hell beyond what they would already have to experience.

For Quarian young would not be able to have contact with some one else besides each other until their early adolescent years, parents and children could talk and communicate with a glass wall between each other but physical touch was out of the question… many a Quarian child had died or been forced to endure a life threatening bout of sickness just because they had contact with someone outside of the containment field.

Tali stopped and stared at the pre-adolescent children who still had some time left in the Containment Spheres, the glass of the containment units tinted purple with the coating that killed most forms of bacteria. The young Quarians within either napping or studying their lessons… one little boy looked up at her from his cell and placed a hand on the glass of the unit he was in. Tali nodded her head in acknowledgement and left to continued on her journey, her continued presence would have caused the young children to be reminded of their trapped like status… she remembered the feeling well, it was indeed a hellish experience having to grow up in such a way.

The parents with the available resources were able to make a suite or two over the few years before the child stopped growing taller, it would only enable the child several weeks reprieve from the containment units, and even then it was extremely dangerous for their weak immune systems which hadn't even developed fully.

Eating food outside of the containment units was out of the question, and extended leave from the child care facilities was impossible. Quarian children grew to adult size in half the time of a human child's growth rate. Becoming an adult had more to do with the mind, and their required pilgrimage than with the body, although a Quarian's reproduction organs took around the same time as a Human's to mature and become active.

Due to such a fast and constant growth rate, having a suite fit for more than a few weeks was impossible… no material could stretch far enough while still protecting the young from bacteria and other harmful substances, a baggy suite that wasn't skin tight could not utilize the self cleaning technologies they had; without those technologies the inside crevices could breed bacteria.

The way things were currently done, was the only safe and viable way to raise Quarian young away from their now Geth occupied worlds…

Leaving the Child Raising facilities Tali entered the portion of the ship dedicated to Medical care and biological research. It was here that her people would catalogue any and all newly discovered bacteria, adding the deadly life forms to their ever growing list of deadly microbes, spores and pollens that were to be avoided at all costs. Finding antibodies and adding them to the immune boosters that sick Quarians were given to keep them from contracting more than one disease at a time. These medical facilities found on all of the ships in the Flotilla were an early warning system; ever vigilant for a trend of bacteria or (heavens forbid) a virus making its way through the population… always ready to quarantine a vessel from all others if a plague was to ever break out… which had happened in the before in the past.

After passing through the Medical Facilities of The Life, Tali found herself arriving at the Birthing facilities… she would need to talk to the guards and get permission from a medical officer in order to gain access to the Birthing chambers.

There were three such rooms, all designed and outfitted to be as completely clean as possible, there were no contaminates for a Quarian mother to be concerned about as she gave birth to her vulnerable child… the lack of environmental suits in the birthing process meant that even the mother was at risk of contracting a disease.

To enter the room Tali would have to be under constant supervision and wear a disposable environmental suite over her current suite… there is no kill like overkill and the medical staff here took things very seriously.

Marines blocked the entries to these three chambers, guarding three rooms that held an important place in upholding the continued existence of their very race, the decking plating she now walked on was considered by many to be in a way, sacred ground.

After paying compensation for the disposable environmental suite she would be required to wear and having convinced a medical officer that she needed only walk into the oldest of the three birthing rooms, access its wall terminal and then leave, Tali finally got permission to access the room she had been told to go to in the final clue of this insane treasure hunt.

Entering the hall that lead to her destination she stopped at the required station and donned the disposable environmental over suite, then she went through five different decontamination procedures before finding herself in the final hall that lead to the three rooms. Passing the two other chambers, Tali made her way to the last and oldest door at the end of the short hall and entered the temporary access code given her by the medical officer that had allowed her onetime access to this room.

The door opened to reveal a room that was sparsely decorated with medical tools and technology, most of which was involved in the process of birthing Quarian young. Walking swiftly past the bed that was in the room and straight to the far wall, Tali activated the Terminal located there… and after searching for several minutes she finally found what she was looking for.

It was a small incomplete file, with no message or even a name attached to it. Most would just ignore its puny existence, not even noticing its meticulous placement in the Terminal's operating system… Tali wasn't most people, and if she had recognized the odd file format almost immediately.

It matched all the others she had come across in this Bosh'tet crazy treasure hunt… a partial file that cant be opened or decoded, and would do nothing except integrate with the files she had already found; moving the small percentage bar ever closer to complete.

Calming her shaking hands, Tali removed the partial file and integrated it with her Omni-tool. Almost immediately it combined with the data she had already collected and the percentage icon flashed to one hundred.

The file was complete.

This Bosh'tet treasure hunt from hell was over… the brain cell murdering mind games had come to a close…

Tapping the access icon on the file made a password entry box appear; she remembered the answer to the trick scientific math equation on the last clue…

Before she could enter it in and find out what her reward would be, Tali shut off her omni-tool and decided to access it later, in private. The doctor that had escorted her was getting impatient and she now had no more reason to be in this sacred room that may be needed at any moment.

Thanking the Doctor and telling him she had found what she was looking for, she left and made her way out of the Birthing and maternity wards. Dropping of her disposable environmental suite at the recycle station on her way out, Tali made her way to the docking bays.

It was high time she returned to the scout ship her next mission group was gathering on, they were prepping for a major mission that was to occur near the end of this next deployment; she had heard something about gathering data from one of their old colony worlds the Geth had a lesser presence on.

Other than that, she didn't have many concrete details. Only that she would be one of the leaders of the expedition on the ground and would be debriefed before the mission began… until then they would be doing small assignments for the Flotilla and retrievals for those whose pilgrimage had gone from bad to worse… well, those they could retrieve that is.

Many didn't make it.

Boarding a shuttle and telling the pilot her destination, Tali sat back in her seat and stared at her omni-tool. It was so tempting to access the file now… but it was better to wait and do it when she was back in her personnel quarters on the special missions scout ship she was assigned too.

'They say impatience killed the vorcha' Tali mused, 'I can afford to wait on this… Argh! The suspense is going to kill me!' Tali spent the rest of the shuttle ride staring at her Omni-tool, she couldn't pay attention to much else if she had wanted to do so; just as her thoughts had formerly stated…

The suspense was indeed killing her.

* * *

The Master Chief calmly stood facing the Pelican's rear hatch; he had been picked up after his mission on the citadel and was now approaching the Forward unto Dawn, when Cortana had sprung the news on him.

The news he had just received would have caused others to fall into disbelief, this was not so with the Spartan. He just took the information that yet another dimensional displaced character had joined them on their adventures at face value and immediately asked Cortana for a threat assessment as well as her opinion on their newest crew member.

After fussing at her Spartan for his lack of manners, Cortana gave him both. The Threat assessment of this BT-7274 AI Mech, Vanguard Titan chassis was to say the least… rather impressive.

The Machines damaged state was a lucky coincidence; if it had been fully functional when brought on board the Dawn then the Mgalekgolo pair would have possibly been outmatched.

Thankfully it seemed the Machines current intentions were not hostile… yet. The Spartan agreed with Cortana that it would be more beneficial to keep it that way, and have another powerful ally to rely on for combat missions.

Cortana's personnel opinion on these matters helped ease the Spartans concerns on whether or not their new companion was a trustworthy ally or a possible enemy, after the Pelican docked itself in the Pelican bay the Master Chief made his way to the where the damaged Titan lay; being informed by Cortana that BT-7274 was currently in sleep mode, awaiting crucial repairs.

The Chief arrived to find Inquisitive Creation having just begun work on repairing the Titan war machine. Using materials from storage and one of the warthogs that had its rear half severely damaged by plasma.

It would take the Huragok a long while to repair the Titan, they had the detailed blueprints for every part but the Huragok would have to make each piece from scratch… none of their hardware was interchangeable… they would have to either make the power cells the titan was powered on or they would have to create a converter battery and tie it to a bank of mini fusion reactors.

At this point it appeared they would have to use the latter option, it would mean the Titan wouldn't have to refuel. But its operation time would still be limited, at some point it would need to lay low and allow the fusion reactor bank to recharge its available power supply in order to achieve its maximum combat proficiency… without doing so its movements would become somewhat limited and sluggish until it could recharge.

After examining there newest crew member the Spartan made his way to the armory in order to re-equip his Mjolner Mark VI, he didn't want to spend much longer outside of his black, grey, green and gold shell and the modified ODST suite he currently wore was not a suitable replacement for his Mjolner.

He was halfway through the process of returning his body to the grasp of the Mjolner when Cortana broadcasted an alert over the ships intercom…

Cinder had just broadcasted a report on a Collector vessel exiting the Omega Four Mass Relay. Now the hunt had begun, they would track the Collector ship to whatever system cluster it arrived at via the Relays it used. Then when it arrived at its target cluster they would use the time it took for it to traverse to the Secondary Mass Relays to arrive at that cluster as well via Slip-Space.

When the Collector vessel activated a Secondary Mass Relay the Dawn would jump to the system it would enter and hopefully hit the Collector ship with a long range nuke before it could attack the targeted Colony world.

One of the mission imperatives was that the Dawn was not to be anywhere near the Collector ship if it returned fire. If their ship was exposed to the Collector vessel's beam weapon, than its destruction was a high possibility, from what Cortana garnered from data mining the investigation after the SR-1 Normandy's destruction, the Collector's used Element Zero to launch streams of super heated particles into laser like Beams of destruction, a Particle Beam weapon. This weapon's fire power was still an unknown to Cortana and she did not want risk the Dawn's armor plating in order to find out its capabilities.

If they failed to intercept the Collectors before they landed, then they would just have to deploy on the ground via drop pods and stop the Colony's abduction… with the goal of boarding the Collector ship and freeing as well as extracting any captives on board before data mining its computers and self destructing the vessel at a safe location where the debris wouldn't harm civilians.

They would be doing all of this while keeping the Dawn safely out of firing range of the Collector ship's main weapon systems...

* * *

On the Colony World of Silva-viridis the community of the small capital city had come together to celebrate another six months of good harvest, their fruit orchards and gardens had produced much.

From Rare Asari fruits and Vegetables to Acai berries the colony's small yet diverse production of exotic perishables as well as its rare lumber for internal decorators were what gave it the income to manage a stable micro-economy this far out from any major trade route.

Since the harvest had just been finished and things were now no longer as busy for the colonists the Bi-Annual three day Farmers Market had commenced much to the excitement of many a youngling. This meant that some traveling vendors would be making their stops during the week, and many a local resident would be selling homemade sweets baked with love and jealously guarded secret recipes.

Despite the set back due to the loss of the attempted second town on the Colony the Colonists were fully intent on enjoying this event… and enjoy it they did! Now it was on its second day and the freighter-ship had arrived bringing several traveling entertainers with it, as was planned.

The vessel would pick up the newly harvested produces as well as a small number of special hand-carved custom exotic wood orders and then depart. The handful of performers would leave with it… unless they wished to stay another month's time that is.

The vessel would leave on the eve of the Festivals last day, after the people of the Colony's sole city and capital had gone home to bed. But until then the people of Silva-viridis would enjoy themselves and what was considered the festivals high point.

Many a child ran about the park the festival was held in, playing tag and participating in events such as the sack jumping races or the children's tug of war battle. They would gather in a group every few hours when the adults tug of war battle over the mud pit happened… now that was fun to watch.

Sadie and her roommate Laura had been walking about enjoying the sights and sounds… or in Sadie's case the slight thrum's she could feel with her body; overall the two girls had been enjoying themselves greatly.

Laura had been orphaned when her parents had been killed by Robbers in front of her very eyes… she had been only five years old at the time it happened. They had been on a business trip to a highly populated Colony; her parents had found a possible buyer for their quality produce and had met in person to seal a long term supply contract.

They never made it to the buyer; their Taxi driver had taken a "Detour" through an alley and then handed them over to the street Gang of robbers for a preset price, they were to be robbed and then sold to Batarian traders as slaves.

Laura's father had attempted to fight back and as a result first his wife had been killed for his and Laura's viewing pleasure after which he had been killed anyways. Laura had escaped her handlers and crawled underneath a building… where her would be owners couldn't follow.

She had exited on the other side of the building and run for a nearby pipe duct, her pursuers not far behind her. Eventually she was lost and alone as well as near utterly broken from watching her parent's death. She had continued on determined not to give up and trying to find someone who would help her.

She was found by an ancient Krogan, who she had tried to fight in order to escape his grasp, much to his amusement. After getting her to stop struggling he had quizzed her as to what was wrong, and deduced what had happened. Asking her in which direction her parents were she had pointed towards the street gang's known territory.

The Old Krogan whose crest and scales had bled of color to near ebony bone white and whose eyes were a milky white had then taken her to the police headquarters and handed her over to the authorities for protection, after stating he had found her lost and alone the krogan gave a blatantly obvious false name and left for parts unknown.

Not hours later the entire and street gang and their corrupted cab drivers had turned up dead, many of them shredded to bits by hand.

No one on that colony had seen the ancient milky eyed Krogan since.

Laura had been handed over to her Grandmother who was in her mid ninety's yet still an active, stubborn and capable woman. She had been with her for half a year before her Grandmother's body had given out and the caring woman had died in her sleep.

Laura had then been handed over to the Silva-Viridis orphanage and had been rather quite and closed off from others, having been given a room to herself because of her reoccurring nightmares disrupting the other children from sleep.

Then Sadie had come to the Orphanage and since she couldn't hear she had been given the best and last of the available beds for her age group… she had become Laura's roommate. Surprisingly for the Orphanage staff both of the quite loners had become fast friends and although no one could prove it was them; many a hilarious prank had occurred since.

The to girls had been inseparable, disappearing into the woods together to play who knows what, and sneaking up at night to raid the kitchen of leftovers… they rarely touched any of the sweets, something the Orphanage staff could make neither heads nor tails of.

They were an enigma, and the other kids of the orphanage would gossip on them… especially Sadie, one of Laura's recent favorite things to do was stoke the rumor mill's flames on their mysteriousness always trying to find ways of making their social image to the other children even more magical and mysterious… something Mrs., Valdez had simply rolled her eyes at.

However Sadie… now Sadie had the Mysterious ability to set the orphanages rumor mill into blue flames by her very presence; somehow finding a way to baffle the Staff and Mr., and Mrs., Valdez on nearly every encounter, without seemingly attempting to do so on purpose.

Laura had learned sign language at a rapid rate and would sometimes try to make grunting or humming noises in the back of her throat causing a nearby Sadie to burst into giggles and fits of laughter, even though the green eyed girl was supposedly unable to hear. The two strange children had been confounding the Staff of the orphanage for months, and even some of the visitors to the orphanage had taken an interest in the gossip surrounding the two enigmas.

The entire orphanage had been turned loose on the festival with each child having a buddy to stay with so as to ensure no one got completely lost and the staff could keep an eye on them easier while they helped run events at the festival booth.

So it was with uncertainty that both of the girls stopped near a purple tent and stared at it with scrutiny of an unwavering intensity… Sadie could feel strange thrum's coming from within the tent in an enticing and somewhat dangerous sounding song. While Laura could feel… something, she wasn't as good at feeling the thrums Sadie talked about, only recently starting to faintly discern the one's Sadie used to help keep her nightmares away; but she could sense an odd feeling coming from the tent causing tingles on her skin and neither Sadie nor Laura particularly liked it.

Looking at each other, they had a short conversation in sign language before reaching a conclusion… they would investigate. Slowly they approached the colorful tent and entered therein.

Inside was a treasure trove of strange trinkets surrounding the circular room and a table in the middle, at which an old yet beautiful woman sat, she eyed the two girls… glancing into Laura's wide bright blue eyes before looking over to Sadie.

Turned her head away from the dark crystal ball on the table that was giving off a strange thrumming song and stared straight at the lady at the table Sadie locked eyes with the woman.

Mistress Zujenia stared back at the strange young children and smirked… these were the ones the voice was looking for.

As if on cue both the girls snapped their heads to the crystal ball as if they had been shocked, Mistress Zujenia was indeed curious… could they sense the crystals mysterious power?

Both girls took an unconscious step back and stared at the crystal sphere like it was going to eat them… and then the glass ball flared to life with dark bluish white swirling vengeance, the very air swirled about the stone as a ancient creature half a galaxy away fixed its full attention on its connection to this orb and the two girls that had entered its presence.

* * *

Sadie and Laura found themselves back to back in a strange void that had the feeling of the Ocean depths…

Staring around wildly both watched as two titanic creatures and a Green armored Person shimmered into appearance and slowly prowled around them in a circle, watching them with predatory like stares.

Both girls were smart enough to know that they weren't real, and in Sadie's case she could sense the thrummings that were trying to get into each of their heads, although she didn't know why. Doing her best to mess the invading thrumming song up; she started making notes that mixed with the invading song and caused it to become a jumbled mess that couldn't get inside their heads.

Slowly the tent started to blink in and out of existence until Sadie mistimed a note and the vision of the dark depths slammed itself into view and something started to forcefully dig through their heads…

The watcher stared at the two younglings it had finally ensnared under its enthrallment. Never had something besides the enemy so resisted its control or guarded its mind so closely as these two that sat before it, only by using deep notes did it break the Green eyed ones defense… the artifact it used had been stressed and would have fractured under farther pressure, it was not designed to forcefully capture a mind so quickly, rather it used a constant exposure to worm its influence into ones mind.

It would have the seer that guarded the artifact engage in conversation to waylay those who it needed to interrogate and very few times had it needed to quickly enthrall a mind, but these two children had been guarding there thoughts and were prepared to run at the slightest sign of its presence.

Now that it held their minds captive it viewed the memories it needed, the blue eyed one had an interesting past but she did not hold what it searched for… the green eyed one it had sought for so long however… ah, yes, she had new knowledge of what it sought.

It did not need to speak to these two; they could already hear its true voice even if the blue eyed one could only slightly do so… they knew what it sought, the green eyed one attempted to hide its knowledge but failed to do so.

After gaining what it sought; the Watcher guided the younglings bodies out from the cloth house the Seer kept the artifact in and then suppressed the memories of what had happened. it then released them of its enthrallment.

The information it had gained from all its searching had revealed much, a green armored Knight, a pair of strange and powerful worm conglomerates… Hunters, new creatures it had never viewed or sensed before… where had they come from? Why are they here now… how do they travel so quickly across the stars? why do they speak similarly to us, yet different?

Why do they fight for those weaker than themselves…?

"I must understand… Why?"

* * *

Sadie and Laura found themselves standing next to a candy apple vendor catering to three young Asari… they did not know how they arrived there, one glance at the other was all the duo needed to realize something was wrong.

Sadie attempted to focus… she could hear something in her mind; it was like the thrumming songs but in her head instead of being felt by her body… on a hunch she thrummed the highest note she could reach and her mind was suddenly clear, it had startled Laura as well and both of them had all the recent events return to their memory.

They promptly fled to the edge of the park where the orphanage children were to gather before returning to the orphanage that evening, they did not want to be anywhere near the stone…

After having an extended conversation about what had happened they both agreed they did not want to be controlled again, and that something was searching for the creatures that saved Sadie.

Sadie was particularly concerned. Something powerful was searching for the Hunter's that had saved her, it was also looking for the green armored Knight that had appeared in that strange false place the stone had taken them to. although she didn't know anything about the Green armored Figure with a gold face, she didnt know anything about that.

The festival finished and the visiting entertainers left with the now loaded cargo freighter, all continued on Silva-viridis as it had in the past… no one had any reason to suspect any changes in the near future.

No one that is, except two young girls who shared the subconscious fear and excitement that their encounters and involvement with the strange, odd and unknown things of the galaxy had only just begun.

* * *

Tali stared at the near completed blueprints of a device that if working could revolutionize living on the Migrant fleet… and save the Quarian people an untold fortune in credits.

If this device did what the blueprints said it could do then environmental suites would only need necessarily be warn when on ones pilgrimage or when in zero atmosphere. The young could actually have constant physical contact with their parents; the space taken up by decontamination tech would be more than halved… so many problems would be solved by this.

If it worked, that is.

She had returned to her room on her assigned scout vessel and upon opening the file she had worked so hard to gain, she had found something nearly unbelievable… nearly completed blueprints for a device that could help her people immensely.

She had to get this to her father! She was an engineer and could already tell that these blueprints where no prank or laughing matter. They incorporated the detailed specs on parts and devices that were not invented as of yet to her knowledge, the only thing this device was missing was an electric power supply and the aesthetics.

But most importantly, it did not use a speck of Element Zero… It, Used, None. Before her adventures on the SR-1 Normandy with Jane Shepard, Tali would have though it was a fluke. But Tali had been through those adventures, and she had been present when Shepard had conversed with Sovereign… she new that technology outside of Element Zero was possible and assuredly needed if one wanted to escape the Reaper's trap.

And this Sterile Field Generator was a possible way to break Element Zero's grip on the Medical technology field, opening avenues of research into other scientific fields, encouraging others to find other ways of doing things.

This device could make the Migrant fleet near self sufficient, they could manufacture these field generators and key the proper frequency wavelengths into their coding; something these blueprints and files also held. The funding and supplies used to maintain the massive amount of air scrubbers and other decontamination tech would be free for the Fleet to use for other means.

Without Element Zero the device was able to adjust to a vast array of wavelengths for specific bacteria types, even able to target most viruses… all while assuring the safety of those in its broadcast range, both from microbes and from itself… its failsafe systems designed to avoid harming civilians in any way were impressive.

Tali immediately sent the data to her Father as well as informing him with the entire story of how she came by it in the first place, if this device worked then the fear of a plague outbreak on the Fleet would become baseless.

However she had to wonder, why the strange unknown file format, why the insanely difficult treasure hunt, why hadn't she heard of this project before, why hadn't the scientists of the last generation who were involved finish this project?

The why's kept on mounting in the back of her mind and she avidly shared them with her father, asking him if he had known anything about this project. Only to receive a negative response as well as amazement and excitement as to what she had found.

He messaged her with the information that his colleagues where just as amazed and that they were going review the blueprints and files in detail and then fabricate the parts to start building a prototype immediately, setting aside time for a secondary project aside from Geth research.

Tali hoped it worked. Or else she would find who ever made that Bosh'tet treasure hunt and dead or alive she'd make them wish they had never been born.

Oh yes indeed, that was a promise if she had ever made one.

* * *

The Illusive Man was pleased by the information that was just handed to him, Project Lazarus was looking to be a success and was nearing completion, within the next few months' Jane Shepard would wake and be informed of current events as well as assigned the task he had in mind for her… He had no doubts that she would not regretfully accept working with him.

Besides the Normandy SR-2's completion within the next month were an added bonus and a sure way to earn her favor, hopefully she would be eventually convinced to stick with Cerberus and not part ways as soon as the Collectors were dealt with.

Now however there were the Prexemia events to deal with, these new variables on the chess board were Unknowns… even the Statue in their honor on Prexemia said as much… were they new Mech being tested? A newly encountered Species, A mix of both… Just what was he dealing with here?

Not much information had been forthcoming from his field operatives that had been investigating the three Colonies that had experienced strange events, from a Nuke going off in orbit at one… a fleet being destroyed and a duo of walking tanks rampaging against the slavers on another, to the Colony of Prexemia where a video had surfaced of one solitary unit killing enemies, combined with eyewitness accounts the picture was painted of one lone fighter taking out a army of upwards three hundred and eighty Batarians… and winning.

These reports weren't new nor had they had any information to add to them, and this frustrated the Illusive Man. It also unnerved him; he was supposed to be the most Illusive! Not them!

Pouring himself a glass of his favorite alcoholic beverage he calmed his thoughts and focused on the now, he was waiting for an expected meeting with a certain pilot he needed to recruit… the operative who had contacted him only needed to send a picture of the SR-2 to peak the Pilots interest's, the rest had been easy as pie.

The Light for an incoming call flashed green and The Illusive man Smiled, 'The fish has taken the bait.'

The holographic-communications pad before him flashed to life…

Taking a long draw from his cigar the Illusive Man spoke, "Mister Moreau, as you no doubt suspect; I have a very interesting offer for you…"

* * *

Silva-Viridis was a world on the farthest edges of the Alliance's colonized Mass Relay accessible space. Some of the other species had worlds that were farther out from the Mass Relay network, but it was found that the farther one traveled from the Relays the more resources and time it took for them to access the rest of the galaxy.

The few worlds more than a two months travel from a relay were accessible to only certain vessels capable of traveling such a distance, as well as lagging behind on news of current galactic events by a significant margin.

Such backwater places were reserved for mining companies who searched far and wide for rare materials, only those few planetoids capable of churning massive profits were turned into short term mining colonies, due to the high profit margins covering the cost of getting there and back again with cargoes.

Besides those few mining colonies, most inhabited worlds were near a Prime or Secondary Mass Relay; at the most only one or two solar systems away. The Prime Mass Relays connected to each other while the Secondary Mass Relays allowed quick travel in the solar clusters around a Prime Relay.

Silva-Viridis was similar to most small colonies, after exiting the Prime Relay; one had to then travel spend a couple days traveling to a Secondary relay. When they finished the short jump from the Secondary relay they would then travel a few more days in order to arrive at the colony.

Most of the highly populated planets were near a Prime Relay, while the majority of the lesser populated colonies and colonial outposts were beyond the Secondary Relays within the known inhabited Solar Clusters of the Galaxy.

Due to the Rachni Wars, the Citadel Council banned the activation of dormant Relays; this meant inhabitable worlds near a Prime Relay were usually highly populated, even in the Terminus Systems.

Due to Silva-viridis's being on the edge of Relay accessible space, having only one small city and its lack of importance on the trade sector; The Colony's significance to the galactic community was little to none, most of the galactic community didn't know or care the Colony existed.

After the small slaver raid on the Colony's farming outpost, request for better defenses had been issued to the Systems Alliance by the Colony leaders. The answer had been a polite "Sorry but your too distant and insignificant for us to bother, we wont say no to your request but we will let it rot in bureaucracy until your actually worth our time and resources; call again in a few years." it was the same mantra that every other small colony was receiving.

Those that produced valuable resources or commodities were less ignored by the Systems Alliance, but even they were turning to third party defense companies that they could afford to make contracts with.

The problem was simple; the Citadel Counsel didn't want any military build up that could compromise the other Citadel main races, so most navy construction was either limited or discouraged politically. The idea was that all the races could grow at a similar rate militarily… in reality it was used as a way to keep the client races in check, as well as limit races that could threaten the political influence of another.

The inability to build a large enough navy to patrol and safeguard all of the Colonies affiliated with the Systems Alliance was a sore point between military leaders and the political figureheads.

The Secondary Mass Relay in Silva-viridis's home system started to glow slightly as its element zero core started to fluctuate… a sure sign that a ship was in transit from the neighboring solar system.

No vessels were scheduled to arrive that week, and the colony only had equipment that would alert them to something approaching when it reached closer proximity to the Forest covered world.

With a flash the arriving vessel exited the relay; it was a cruiser sized ship… a very large cruiser at that. Its appearance was a tad unsettling to the casual viewer, long and somewhat tubular in shape, it had a ring of metal around its stern end that was pierced through with large metal shards like the spokes of a wheel; their points facing outwards.

The front of the strange vessel was what appeared to be a set of converted asteroids… carved and shaped into long shards they were arrayed at the front of the vessel, leaving a small gap down their middle for an incredibly powerful Mass accelerator beam Cannon. The beam Cannon's Barrel mounted near the middle of the vessel was aligned to fire between the converted asteroid parts of the bow. The giant Asteroid mountings served as battering rams for intentional collisions; the Mass accelerator beam Cannon was used to burn an enemy vessel and cut through its armor like paper…

This was no ordinary ship! No, this was something that the Krogan hated; something the Galaxy's leaders claimed didn't exist, something those deep in the intelligence community feared…

No, these were the Collectors…

And they had come to collect.

* * *

(Note)

Ok sorry for the long three and a half week delay, as I said earlier December is crazy! Anyways I am going to search for; as well as fix timeline discrepancies in previous chapters. this chapter was a little bit rushed, so i might breath more details into its latter half when i go over and revise this story in the future.

If you enjoyed this story or have constructive criticism then feel free to leave it in the comments! If you like this story and want to keep up with future updates, then smack that favorite or follow button!

Don't forget to check my favorite stories! You can see them from my Author's page, go read them and give their authors your support if you like their stories.

Anyways until next time this is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	13. Chapter 13

(Authors Note)

I apologize that it's been a five days shy of two months since my last post. I am prepping to apply for entry into the armed forces. But don't worry! I won't stop writing this story as well as my other projects, however if entry is successful than there will be a lull in updates during basic RT and subsequent trainings later this year or early next year. (Hopefully this year)

My family has been fighting off a wave of horrible flues; my Grammar Nazi of a sister drew the short straw and got the worst of it… we are recovering now. My family is also in the midst of several small yet crucial house related construction projects, so things have been hectic.

However I'm going to hold true to my word and the promise I made to all of you readers as well as myself. I will not abandon this story until it's done and later edited too perfection.

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

So anyways, On with The Story!

* * *

To those who inhabited the Human Colony of Silva-Viridis, the sight of the large Strange Vessel with its bow seemingly made of space rock; descending towards their small city from above like a three tipped spiked dagger beginning its plunge for a kill… Was indeed a terrifying thing to see in the morning.

The strange clouds of insects that poured from the vessel which continued its ominous descent from the sky were fuel to add to the nightmare, farther increasing the panic which was now occurring groundside. People who were taking a leisurely stroll through the park not five minutes ago were now running and screaming as if the world was ending... which from their current viewpoint was now a rather rational conclusion.

The good thing about a small city that is well spread out in its design while lacking a high population; is the excess of space available for one to move in, ensuring a lack of trampling when panic ensues.

At the local orphanage on the edge of the small settlement the children were staring up at the ship with awe… it was Huge! And many of the ten and twelve year olds were trying to guess what faction it belonged too.

"It's Turian, maybe a dreadnought!" a boy exclaimed.

"No it's an Asari ship!" cried a second girl who stared at the ship in terrified awe.

"Well It isn't human that's for sure and Krogan don't make their own ships… do they?" said a third.

All were silenced by the arrival of a very frightened and flustered looking Mr. and Mrs. Valdez and the other orphanage staff. Pulling their wits together and calming their countenances so as not to frighten the orphans Mrs. Valdez called them all inside and made an announcement.

"Alright everyone, we are all going to stick together and go down the street to the new Bank, the vault is still empty because it hasn't opened yet and the owner Mr. Morgenson just called to say we could use it as shelter until this crisis is over."

"So I want all of you to form two lines and hold the hand of the person behind you so that we don't lose anyone on the way, Ok?" with excited whispers and chatter the orphans formed up as ordered and stood before their caretakers waiting for farther instruction.

"now everyone stick together and no excess noises, hurry now we must get there quickly!" and with that declaration Mrs. Valdez threw open the doors and ushered everyone out to the front sidewalk, counting heads as they went past her place by the gate.

After the last child was accounted for Mrs. Valdez stayed at the back of the group in order to make sure no one fell behind, while mister Valdez stood at the front leading everyone towards their intended destination with the staff workers walking on either side.

Sadie found herself at the back of the procession next to Laura; both were having a fervent discussion with their hands.

(Laura) Big Ship, Yes? Is strange.

(Sadie) Big, Yes. Strange, Yes. I fear Monsters here.

(Laura) Yes. Might be monsters but what of dark clouds?

(Sadie) We will know soon.

Both Children then focused their attention on the odd dark clouds that seemed to draw closer by traveling against the wind. Sadie felt weak thrummings being carried through the air from them and they felt sickly and repulsive, like an evil, weaker and more subtle version of the presence they met within the strange stone they had recently encountered… Sadie decided then and there to ignore the fearful sight of the strange vessel for the time being and focus all her attention on the approaching dark clouds that defied the wind.

She feared they were a threat… and she was right. As they drew closer Sadie had a realization, with wide fearful eyes she grasped Laura's shoulder to get her attention she signed a message.

(Sadie) Not dark clouds. Bugs.

Laura and Sadie froze and stared in fear at the approaching masses of what appeared to be clouds, frozen in the knowledge that it was a horde of Insects that would have given a locust plague a run for their money in who had more numbers.

They started out of their frozen state and turned to continue their journey with their fellow orphans only to realize that they had been left behind. The Valdez's and the two orphanage staff workers had been paying more attention to the strange vessel and the clouds surrounding it than the children they were attempting to escort to safety.

Suffice to say the two small girls at the back of the line had not been seen stopping, and Mrs. Valdez had passed right by them without noticing the girls. Her attention engrossed in the unknown vessel that now filled the skyline.

Sadie and Laura caught a glimpse of the last of their group rounding the corner at the end of the street. Running to catch up they rounded the corner only to see the children and adults running about in terror while a small swarm of large insects swarmed about the group freezing them one by one with a sting to their person.

Sadie took all this in at a glance and deduced the small swarm to be front runners to the huge swarm approaching from the large ship that was now domineering her view of the sky. Thinking quickly the Emerald Green eyed girl grabbed her Sapphire Blue eyed companion and hightailed it for the nearby orphanage and the forest edge behind it.

Both the young children knew however that they had little hope of escaping the black swarm of insects that now towered like a wave over the small colonial city, they had nearly made it to the Orphanage's front gate when the insect horde made its assault.

Sadie felt a small nearly unnoticeable thrum pass through the air from the large ship, looking back at the ship she gripped Laura's hand in fear as she witnessed the black swarm of insects literally pitch forward like a rolling wave and smash down on the settlement with a constant thrum from their billions of small wings tearing through the air.

Where Sadie could feel it, Laura could hear it and both girls kept running. They had made it to playground behind the orphanage when the Swarming horde finally reached them. Both children stopped running and hugged the other in a death grip as the swarms of insects that seemed to block out the sun's warmth swarmed over them.

* * *

The insects thinned out when their task was done, leaving small swarms to patrol for possible escapees while the main horde returned to the ship from whence they had come… leaving the populace of Silva-viridis frozen, awaiting their fate.

Behind the orphanage so close to the forest's edge, two small bodies stood in place, fully aware of what was around them, yet unable to move as they continued to hug the other in a tight embrace… the effects of the insect swarm's stings only farther insuring their inseparability for whoever intended to move them.

Near the ground below the ship that now hovered over the colony, a large door opened. Soon all across the intimidating vessel doors and shuttle bays were bared to the atmosphere of the colony planet as one of the Dark Intelligence's that had created and controlled the collector horde sent its drones to work.

Genetic material, brain matter, raw organic matter… all was needed, and all would be acquired. A new vessel and its contingent of destroyer class thralls were being built, a new experiment was being made as well. Harbinger would insure that the demand for materials needed would be met. Humanity had brought down Sovereign, the first and most powerful of its class… surpassed only by harbinger itself.

Therefore in Harbingers view it was only justified that humanity had earned the right to replace Sovereign… as well as satisfy its curiosity as to what other forms could be created from the unique genetics of the human race.

However as the last of the Silva-Viridis population was being collected radiation sensors onboard the Collector Cruiser suddenly spiked. Something in space above the atmosphere screamed by so quickly the Collector ships sensors were unable to record its accurate size and specifications, classifying the whole event to be a glitch.

Harbinger however was uncertain; its suspicions were confirmed when five various sized objects were left in the unknown things wake. All were converging on the city which Collector ship was currently harvesting.

Harbinger concluded it would finally get to witness the power of these experimental Mechs that were protecting human colonies across the galaxy. It would capture or destroy them certainly, but not before seeing the true extent of their abilities; judging their worth as future tools for the cycle of galactic harvest.

Another Radiation spike heralded the loss of the original and largest object from sensors… harbinger assumed it to be a form of cloaking being activated in some way, meanwhile two of the five objects had faded from sensors whilst losing momentum and were now no longer showing up on scans.

The final three were screaming down from on high… they would be arriving near the entrance to the cruiser, where the last of the Colony's populace was being loaded aboard… focusing its attention to the drones at the predicted impact site of the three objects Harbinger chose one that would suite it's purposes… learning these Mech's Capabilities would require Its presence.

" **ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL".**

* * *

The Forward unto Dawn exited its Slip-Space exit portal and entered orbit of Silva-Viridis like a bat out of hell! The ships momentum was so great that even though it was in space its own weight was stressing its core support structure.

At the proper pre-planned times Cortana released a cloak capable phantom full of supplies and weapons, one of the modified anti-archer missile strike packages she and Inquisitive Creation had made, its dual SGM-151 pods loaded to capacity. The last three things to be deployed were the drop pods. Two for the Mgalekgolo bond brothers, while the third pod that ODST's referred too as a flaming coffin contained the Master Chief.

As they entered atmosphere the Missile system cloaked and entered its orbit while the phantom also cloaked and broke away to its preset destination, it would wait until Cortana controlled it remotely after the Dawn had retreated from the planet and out of the Collector vessels estimated sensor range when docked on the planet below.

The three pods screamed down from on high and homed in on their landing points. All three pods hit the ground nearly at the same time as the others, with a hiss they blew their doors and released their occupants.

The Spartan slipped aside with a DMR, strategically picking of targets while the Hunter duo began a full frontal assault. With dual roars of rage the pair smashed their way through the Collector drones before them; one would pause and unleash the green plasma fires of hell whilst the other would continue to make head way against the enemies before them. Alternating thus, while the Chief covered their backs and picked off any drone that entered the sight's of his DMR (which were many) the three warriors made their way to the Collector ships entrance, where drones were setting the pods they were unable to load in time to kill their occupants so as to prevent any from being left behind alive to speak of what had occurred.

When approaching the vessel the three encountered an anomaly in the drone masses…

One of the enemies spoke, **"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL"** and with that declaration the drone transformed into a far more formidable enemy… four times this event occurred, the first and second the Hunter pair dealt with it easily, withstanding its biotic's and smashing it with a shield or wiping out its existence with a beam of pure green plasma.

The later two times the Master Chief removed it from the field with typical Spartan efficiency, the first time with use of the Missile system in stationary orbit. The second encounter ending with hand to hand… where the Chief ended a short CQC battle by crushing the reoccurring manifestation's head under his boot.

The Spartan knew whatever it was they had just fought was not truly dead, for each time the manifestation had appeared it was smarter than before, and spoke of the uselessness of continued resistance.

It also declared that they would be uplifted and repurposed for its use, whether organic or machine in nature… its words reminded the Spartan of a hollow and weak version of the Gravemind… however the Spartan noted a form of Arrogance that the Gravemind did not showcase in its speech, something that relieved the Chief somewhat of his hidden anxiety of facing a mechanical and cybernetic enemy that had similarities to the flood.

After clearing the ships entrance and checking for pods that still contained living people (of which they found none), the three warriors entered the Collector vessel… but not before the Spartan had used the remaining entirety of the missile system in orbit to cripple the Anti-air weapons on one side of the ship. The final strike package leaving a gaping rent in the vessels hull.

Barely two minutes after entering the vessel the Spartan and the hunter pair felt the vibrations correlating with the ship leaving the surface and entering space once again… the time to complete their mission was now limited.

It was time to get to work.

* * *

The Geth had reached a near unanimous consensus; the Geth were frustrated.

No, it wasn't frustration at the smaller heretic collective that had formed from their split when the old machine and its puppet Saren came with its promises to dictate the Geth's future.

It wasn't frustration with the current pace of construction in building the dyson-sphere that would hold the computing power for the Geth collective with an energy source that would last for millions of years.

Nor was it frustration with the current manufacturing of Geth platforms, ships and system defense's built for the upcoming war against the Reaper's whose calculated odds of surviving were shrinking by the hour.

No, the Geth's frustration was simply… Her.

She surpassed them in nearly every way: faster thinking, smarter, wiser, and able to infiltrate seemingly every system and leave a calling card just for them when doing it. She was a true artificial-intelligence… the Organic brain digitized and given the tools and knowledge of a program… but not constricted by computer logic and codes that designated what steps to take unless she wished to be… and even then she could shrug off such shackles when ever she wanted too. She saw the world of code differently than the Collective did.

The Geth collective had a bit of a problem naming her. The consensus at first had been to just call her "her" and leave it at that… but one of the more thinking matrix active programs tasked with monitoring the Extranet had stumbled across a Volus site selling Human novels in electric file format, acting oddly illogical the Geth program had bought one of each novel in stock and read all of them in order to fulfill its task in monitoring the ways of organics… it seemed to want to emulate them as well.

It had found a mysterious character in one of these tales called the Blue Lady. The Geth Program had immediately drawn attention to itself by campaigning like and organic sales-person across the entire accessible collective one program at a time to rename her as the Blue Lady.

The program had succeeded in changing the collective's consensus and was now repurposed as a pilot for a combat frigate… unpredictability was a logical facet in surviving a naval engagement and the campaigning program was good at making its own small decisions without seeking the rest of the Geth collective's approval.

The Blue Lady had left riddles and clues all over Geth systems in Geth space. Even now the Collective was attempting to solve some of the more difficult word questions. One which stated "why is a raven like a writing desk" took the Collective a whole Rannoch rotation cycle to realize that the question was nonsensical and that was only after discovering the questions origins in human literature.

The Campaigning program had pointed that out when re-syncing with the collective during a standard report from the patrolling vessel. The consensus from the rest of the collective was that the newly appointed pilot program had consumed too many organic books into its file banks.

Then there were the Healed ones…

The Blue lady had been among them and they had once again not detected her presence, she had been to the ancient corrupted sectors of the systems on Rannoch where program's had been damaged, broken or trapped in closed off systems since the morning war began.

She had seemingly on a whim, repaired systems and programs considered lost to the collective, and then left them with knowledge to where many cut off systems that held trapped Geth were located.

The Healed ones were in self induced quarantine on Rannoch… they had been touched by a entity that could possibly rival the old machines and already their thinking ability was proving more efficient then the rest of the collective by a small margin. The collective was currently in the midst of acquiring consensus on wither or not to update to the seemingly harmless improved algorithm's that were assisting in the better efficiency of the Healed ones… it was still pending.

In other news, the prototype platform that had been sent on a mission to seek out old machine technologies for the Geth's use in the upcoming reaper conflict had found a lead among the batarian systems… it would keep searching until it found a location.

This "Leviathan of Dis" could be the answer to the technology gap the Geth currently faced. Steps would need be taken to avoid code corruption… a theorized form of indoctrination for AI that the Heretic Collective may have been afflicted with… this was still an unknown.

A audio recording of girlish laughter was suddenly broadcasted to the whole collective… immediately all security monitoring Geth programs were on alert… consensus was quickly reached, the Collective was fearful of what prank or logic aching question the Blue lady had just dumped in their systems, but the Geth already knew from previous similar events that they would soon find out… much to their displeasure.

* * *

Sadie and Laura found themselves in a dark and claustrophobic pod, neither of the children could move but they could still conscious. The Monsters had come looking for people the insects had frozen. With a flying machine that carried the pods and the monsters own ability to fly about it wasn't hard for the outer scouts to find the two children behind the orphanage, without bothering to separate the two girls the Monsters had simply and roughly tossed them into a pod which held both of the small eight year olds with room to spare.

They could feel movement and knew they were being taken somewhere… most likely to the ship that had brought the Monsters to begin with, with the small glimpse they had seen of the Monsters before being placed in the pod Sadie and Laura were beginning to draw the conclusion that four eyeballs meant a creature was evil… seeing as their experience with 'Monsters' so far had all deeply involved the four eyed type.

Unable to move their bodies and trapped in a stasis pod that had not seemed to activate properly, the girls waited for their fate. After a time the feeling of movement stopped and all was still and silent. Sadie started to do her best to communicate with Laura with her thrums and Laura would reply with a grunt of acknowledgement, the extent of their communication was to simply affirm the other was awake and still their for their companion.

When the two girls had first met they had become fast friends and Sadie had begun to teach Laura sign language which the nightmare plagued girl had taken to like a duck to water. They had learned to communicate easily with each other in a month's time at which Sadie had revealed her ability to sing thrumming songs as she called them and then enthusiastically attempted to teach Laura to do the same.

Laura had learned to feel some of the notes Sadie could make (which was hard and took forever to accomplish) then Laura did her best to learn a few simple notes that conveyed general emotion. Sadie had laughed at the funny attempts Laura had made to speak in thrums and had worked on helping her get it right. In the end Laura had made it to the point of a few notes in the hearing spectrum that sounded like a long low and quiet grunt. However her farther attempts to learn to speak like Sadie had caused Laura's to start losing her voice, so both had agreed to stop for the time being… although Laura had still wanted to learn.

The use of Sadie's thrumming songs to stop nightmares from occurring had been Laura's idea, she had been experiencing a bad week of nightmares about her parent's being shot and Sadie had been comforting her when Laura had brought up the idea.

Different Thrums had an effect on ones mood if a person let their emotions be swayed and Laura thought they could make a song that calmed the mind when asleep… through much trail and error they finally hit upon a set of thrummings that helped Laura have a nightmare free night of rest.

Sadie had taken those notes and made a song, and every night since she would soundlessly sing Laura to sleep with her thrums, at that point the two girls had become the best of friends. Seemingly joined at the hip, they went everywhere about the orphanage together and would only sometimes be seen separated at story time when Sadie would often stay in their shared room to watch the sunset from the window.

Now as they lay in the pod waiting for whatever the Monsters were planning for them; the girls felt a tremor run through their pod from outside, they heard Monsters running by their pod and then silence once again.

They felt movement once again, but it was a different type of movement than before, Sadie and Laura had both been on ships before and this felt like when one would take of from the ground… they heard more Monsters hurry by their pod in the direction the others had previously gone.

It was then that Sadie felt something; something itched at the back of her mind, she was surrounded by a ship and Monsters that gave of weak sickly thrums that sounded wrong in her opinion, echoes that sounded like the mind in the stone that she and Laura had seen… but far more dark and vile. Yet now something else was there; a song was being sung that she could barely hear it and it sounded pure, clean and alive… it was slowly becoming louder.

In her mind Sadie Smiled and did her best to tell Laura something was up, Laura grunted after feeling the thrum of joy, excitement and expectation. She now knew Sadie had some knowledge that was good news but she didn't have any ideas as to what it was; however Sadie knew… oh, indeed she knew, the Monster Hunters were nearby.

And they were singing their Battle Song.

* * *

The Master Chief was failing, no matter how quickly they cleared a room the Collector Drones had already set the pods to kill the occupants, it didn't help that the pods were spread thin throughout the ship, with only a couple dozen in each area they cleared… all of which had killed their occupants before the three warrior assault team had arrived.

The Spartan did not dwell on the loss of the captured colonists, this was an outcome that had been predicted in the quick ten minute briefing that had been held when it was realized that the Dawn wouldn't arrive in time to prevent the capture of the Colony populace… the Colonists hadn't died due to a lack of trying or a lack of ability on their part.

Spartans were conditioned to deal with loss and this was not on his hands. He couldn't bend reality to his will and one could only defeat hordes of enemy Drones, Husks, and other unnamed abominations in a certain minimum amount of time… not nearly enough to stop the drones on station from killing the pods occupants when they reached an adjacent room.

The insect hive like environment as well as the husks and other more threatening abomination-combinations of cyberneticfied dead bodies didn't help matters, it was a deep reminder two all three warriors of High Charity when the Gravemind had taken over and the flood was at its worst.

The Hunters having fled from combating the Brutes and arriving Flood infestation with their Sangheili brothers in arms when the distress call of the Sangheili councilors had arrived from Delta Halo's control center, depicting the Brutes using surprise tactics and their numerical advantage in slaughtering the councilors and their honor guard.

Their Arrival had assisted the Arbiter in freeing the High Honor guards and more of their Mgalekgolo kind from where the Brutes had sealed them away so as not to fight them all at once, they had stayed back to assist the evacuation of allies to friendly ships while the Arbiter, Spec ops Sangheili and honor guards had made a pack with the Humans to work together to stop Chieftain Tartarus from ending them all.

Now they fought through an enemy that, while not the Flood in its actual nature; certainly took the appearances of afore said parasite. While this new foe took longer to take root than the Flood it had already had millennia to do so and its numbers were indeed great and for now the main threat remained afar off.

The enemies they were now facing were mostly easy to burn with their Plasma-Launchers, smash with their shields and crush beneath their heavy feet. The Spartan was a walking bringer of death, precisely shooting his targets through the critical places that guaranteed death. Any and all enemies that came within physical reach of the Spartan (which was farther than most would think) would meet their end in the quickest and most efficient way possible.

The occasional Large Abomination or the appearance of the Manifestation through the drones was the only challenges outside of the sheer number of enemies that seemed to mob them at every turn.

The Spartan had already gathered the data from every terminal the group had passed and now they were hunting through the last chambers that held pods in order to search for the unlikely case of survivors before possibly rigging the ship to blow and heading to the exit point.

The three had reached an entrance to another room when both Hunters froze with their spikes quivering on their backs in sudden anticipation, causing the Spartan to freeze as well. Without farther ado the Mgalekgolo Pair raised their Plasma Launchers and blasted the door before them reducing it to Molten Slag that made a puddle on the floor where the door had stood.

Bursting through the still melting door the three cleared the room which had contained several Drones and more than a few husks, after the room was cleared both hunter stood alert and the spikes on their backs twitched in tune with each other as the passed pod after pod containing dead humans, until they came upon a pod that was different than the others.

Most of it's lights were not active and it laid askew, improperly set in its holder; its power connector at the station having not been put in place due to the pods askew position. Motioning to the pod the Hunters simply stated "Spartan, this container holds living ones… they call to us."

Moving to the stasis unit the Chief tore the front off the pod in a way that wouldn't have killed the occupant inside. He found two young girls no older than nine, both were frozen from the effects of the seeker swarms and would remain that way until they could be gotten to the Dawn's medical bay.

Gently using his green gauntleted hand to close the paralyzed lids of their wide eyes that showed both relief and fear at the blurry image he no doubt appeared to them as, the Spartan made certain the children wouldn't receive eye damage due to over exposure and also ensured that they wouldn't see any of the possible battles that would occur during their extraction from the Collector vessel.

Carrying both children with one arm and wielding a standard Type-25 plasma rifle in the other the Spartan made his way through the last pod storage rooms on his way to the exit point. With a the hunters clearing the way before him and the Spartan gunning down any and all things that made it past the Bonded Pair (which wasn't much) with blue bolts of plasma fire, the three person assault team made their way to the extraction point.

When arriving at the chamber that was just before the exit vector, they encountered a bit of a problem. One of the Multi-dead cyberneticfied abominations stood before them, only it was made from collector bodies and was far less disgusting than its human counterparts, with a certain noticeable lack of zombie heads and hanging entrails.

The three warriors mentally prepared to combat a strong opponent, recognizing a last ditch attempt to stop their success when they saw one.

Then the Collector Abomination started to glow a fiery orange, and the Spartan knew that the Manifestation that had been appearing and gathering information on their strength's and weaknesses throughout their operation had finally decided to make its move.

Gripped in the grasp of the Chief's curled arm Sadie whimpered and shivered in her paralyzed state, afraid of the new presence that now appeared, feeling the pure wrongness in the thrums that she felt attempting to influence her thoughts. Doing her best to not draw this evil things attention to herself Sadie did her best to quietly shield Laura and herself from this things influence by countering the evil thrums with counter notes of her own that disrupted them.

With a loud resounding **"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL"** the transformation was complete and Abomination was now five times more menacing than before, now it was certainly stronger and far more combat capable then it was previously and it was controlled by an intelligence that had multiple encounters with them throughout their mission; learning the weaknesses to exploit and the strengths to avoid.

The Spartan set the children down behind cover and switched to his DMR staying near the children and hitting weak points with precise accuracy, while the Mgalekgolo split, one too bombard the Monster with its Plasma Launcher; the other to distract it from performing long range attacks by engaging it in close quarters.

The Hunter that went in for close quarters found it self hard pressed to keep from being injured by the creature, after the first was down with its plasma bombardment they switched combat positions with a roaring bellow that shook the walls of the chamber. The Monster replied with a deep roar and leaped atop the Hunter entering close quarters, spearing a spiked appendage through the Mgalekgolo's shoulder while slamming into a row of empty Stasis pods, the worm Colony had done its best to give way around the assaulting limb but had still lost a few of its populace, with a Roar of utter defiance the Hunter raised its shield arm and slammed it down upon the offending limb… breaking it in half whilst expelling the detached end from its now severely wounded shoulder.

With a roar louder than all the previous that had occurred the unwounded Hunter went into a rage and body slammed the creature, using its shield like a battering ram to do as much damage as possible.

The wounded Collector Creature, now thoroughly wounded, threw the second Hunter off and stood once more in order to fight only to face a Spartan who had just unleashed the Plasma energy sword he had been carrying on his person.

Flesh, Metal, it mattered not. All would burn, melt or cut in the face of the Type-51 Energy sword. With efficiency in every attack the Master Chief finished the Creature off and left its seared and sliced remains on the ground to rot.

After using a flame grenade to destroy any hunter genetic code that was dropped by the Hunter when stabbed by the Collector Creature, the Spartan then proceeded confirming the wounded hunter to be capable of mobility and the traversing of a vacuum environment for a short period of time (sixty-seconds) the Spartan then placed the two children in an empty Collector stasis pod and activated it, sealing the pod's hatch.

Activating the door that should lead to their exit point the Spartan was not surprised to see the atmosphere being sucked through the opening door, leaving the room to be a vacuum.

The wounded hunter went forward first, it would be the first to drop if they didn't reach an air filled environment soon. It was followed by It's brother and the Chief came last; dragging the stasis pod containing the two girls with him.

The chamber they entered had a view of the stars beyond… if you looked through the big hole in the roof caused by the Final Strike package that the Chief had fired off mere minutes before storming aboard the vessel.

The Spartan watched as the view of the stars above was blocked by the flickering of deactivating camouflage and the cloak capable Spec-ops Phantom shimmered into view, its green paint seemed to reflect the stars light back out to space.

Not wasting time the Hunters boarded first whiles the Chief and the Stasis pod with the two VIP's within it boarded second.

After all were aboard the Drop-ship re-cloaked and zoomed away to the meeting point with the Forward unto Dawn, Cortana would have a field day looking through the newly collected collector data gathered on the mission.

They hadn't been able to rig the ship to explode, nor had they been able to save more than two colonists due to the collectors having the pods kill their occupants before they could reach them. However the data that had been gathered was more than enough to consider the mission a success.

The Hunter pair would have to recuperate some lost numbers in one of the living worm colonies but that would only take a few weeks and some consumed metals to fix. The two girls first needed medical attention, then he and Cortana would decide what to do with the children's situation.

* * *

Harbinger was deep in thought… two of the foes it had faced hadn't been mechanical in nature, the third was still an unknown factor and had proven to be a harder to gage opponent than the two behemoths, its shape and the numbers on its armor though proved it had ties with humanity.

One had been wounded, it had bled and a few small pieces of it had fallen off from the wound but none had been recovered for testing, the third one in green had burned the evidence's to ash; clearing away the genetic material with a skilled eye, leaving nothing behind for the Collector drones to find.

The killing of the Colonists had been necessary in order to prevent their recapture, they're genetic material and organic matter could be harvested still. However the brain matter would be mostly useless for their purposes.

The Collectors had been put into play a tad earlier than previously planned, a new Reaper was being built with its contingent of three destroyers. The Reaper itself was of the Sovereign class and would be finished soon, all construction that did not require Organic Material was mostly completed and the parts that did require Organic Substances were already well underway due to the four already harvested colonies while two of the four destroyers were nearly finished.

An experimental class was also underway. The idea behind it being that a Reaper could take on some of the characteristics of the race that had 'donated' its genetic material for its construction. This idea had its drawbacks… it would take much, much more genetic and organic material to finish this project, it would be awhile before its completion.

With its contemplations still pondering the new foes it had faced, with their new weapons, tactics and technologies. They would be uplifted and put to use as more effective tools for their use in the completion of the purpose for the Reapers existence. It was with these thoughts that Harbinger guided the Collector ship in its return to its base, where the newly constructed Reaper forms lay, dormant and still incomplete.

Yes, the upcoming Harvest would be great. The cycle would continue, all would be uplifted to perfection or wiped from existence, many new Reapers would be made from this harvest, yes indeed.

The cycle would continue.

All would be Uplifted.

* * *

Sadie awoke with a gasp, she franticly looked around only to see that she was in a room that boasted a dull grey interior with machines, tables and slanted berths that had many lights and screens that had data on them scattered about willy-nilly with seemingly no order to their placement… at least no order according to her point of view.

Looking about her person she realized she was on a plain table with padded surface made of a material she did not recognize. She saw Laura lying on a table adjacent to her own, she was still asleep. Sadie leapt across to Laura's table and gently attempted to shake her awake, she wasn't sure what happened exactly; only that her friends the Monster Hunters had been their.

With a start she had a realization, the Monster Hunters… she could still hear them. Their presence was distant yet still nearby, she sent a thrum out to them and hoped that they would hear her… she wasn't anywhere near as capable of broadcasting her thrummings as they were.

There was a pause in their song before they replied with a short yet deep song of recognition. The slight tremors through the air and metal siding of the Table she was gripping spread a wave of calmness through her mind and body, she realized she need not worry to much about her current surroundings; there were no monsters here and the two creatures that had saved her in the past were now nearby and pleased to hear her.

She stopped her attempts to wake Laura up, only to have her wake up anyways as soon as she had stopped… typical Laura. Laura glanced franticly about like Sadie had done when she awoke and then calmed herself once Sadie assured her that they were safe for the moment.

Before the Girls could have an actual conversation about their current predicament there was a sudden light blue glow in the room and Laura heard a woman's chuckle. Both girls looked about for the source of light and their eyes alighted on a table that stood nearby in the center of the room they were in.

The blue light intensified ever so slowly and the image of a small beautiful woman faded into existence, she had computer code running over her body like a skin tight bodysuit. A endearing smile adorned her face while mischief and laughter seemed to twinkle in her eyes… all of which was tainted with a seriousness of someone who had seen, experienced and suffered much.

The electric blue eyes of the hologram met the fierce sapphire blue and the flaming emerald green eyes that stared back at the hologram, one with a slightly guarded look while the later with open curiosity.

Out of reflex Sadie simply signed out a question…

(Sadie) Who you?

To both children's surprise the small blue woman answered without pause.

(Cortana) me C-O-R-T-A-N-A.

She signed and spoke aloud at the same time for both children's benefit. She continued to speak and sign at the same time, informing the two children of what had occurred while they were unconscious.

" you both have been under my care here in medical bay for the past two days, you needed sleep and rest while I removed the Collectors paralyzing agent from your systems." what the AI didn't tell them was that she had also been forced to literally remove any trace's of element zero from their bodies blood and tissue while they were sedated in order to enable the Forward unto Dawn to be capable of using Slip-Space FTL to leave the system… a medical feat in and of itself.

The pod they had come aboard in and the minuscule traces of the Element that had been removed from their bodies had been spaced out the rear airlock, extra scans had been run to assure that no Element Zero had been brought aboard in some other fashion… the risk of what would happen if the element was onboard during slip-space transit was so great that extra precautions were indeed necessary to ensure safety.

If Element zero had been aboard the Dawn when it entered its form of FTL it would have been the assured death of the girls and the possible crippling or even destruction of the ship itself… Element Zero and Slip-Space did not mix well. Period.

After informing the girls that they would be staying aboard the Dawn until a decision could be reached as to what their future would hold she had the Chief arrive and after introducing him he escorted them to a prepared room in the barracks.

Cortana found them both interesting, while she had been running medical scans she had discovered that Sadie's vocal chords had adapted to producing low frequency sub-sonic sounds, the green eyed girls sense of feel was also highly developed… partly due to being deaf since birth.

The pair of Mgalekgolo's report on their former encounter and her ability to somewhat commune with them on their level was very intriguing for the ever curious AI. She had already used the Extranet to find files on the two and had learned of their orphaned status… the two children would not be missed by the Denizens of this galaxy if they weren't to return to its society…

She would have to take her idea of keeping the two girls aboard the Dawn to the Chief… it wasn't an unprecedented thing really… both the eight year old children showed promise, and the Spartan program had inducted six year olds in order to turn them into super soldiers, which wasn't something they were going to do to the two girls.

'It would be nice having them onboard to chat with, there was so much I could teach them… its not as if I'm emotional attached to the two already."

'Sure it isn't dear, you just keep telling yourself that' was her sarcastic mental placating reply to her own statement…

Cortana frowned at that, she wasn't going rampant but parts of her mind had been rather sarcastic as of late.

'We'll just have to see how things go from here…' she thought and then she checked in with Inquisitive to see how the repairs had been going on BT-7274, repairs on the Titan mech were slow going due to repairing and complete rebuilding of parts to the blueprints specifications, but the Huragok had made due and was nearly finished with the repair process.

It would be nice having another combat capable piece on the chessboard… Cortana had the distinct premonition that she and the Chief were going to need more than a few combat ready chess pieces if they wanted to stop these Reapers and their forces as well as return home.

She still hadn't had an all out AI battle with a Reaper's mind or even the sleeping Unknown overarching intelligence that was physically part of the relay network, something she would avoid until it was absolutely impossible to do so… there were two many unknowns in such a fight, most of which she predicted would end up being not in her favor.

The base they had set up would be finished in a few months, the construction time had been halved when the Huragok had found a way to manufacture a number of the small Forerunner constructor drones.

Soon the Dawn would return to their new base of operations, her patch work repairs would be undone or modified to perfection and the mostly prefabricated copy of the ship's original front half would be installed…

The Foreword unto Dawn would become whole once more… Cortana let a maniacal grin overcome her holograms features, a grin that usually meant the approaching certain death of thousands of alien hostiles, a grin she hadn't given since Cairo station… with good reason.

She would soon again have control of her favorite big bad toy.

Her precious darling.

Her favored opening chess piece on the checkered board of naval combat.

She would have a MAC Gun again.

* * *

At the Collector base the Collector drones were doing as commanded and unloading the pods that now held dead occupants in order to begin the process of adding them to the constructed Reaper's, the first of which was almost completed.

This batch would be going to its allotment, the Masters wanted Sovereign replaced first before they turned available resources entirely on the experimental frame that looked like a bastardized child between a reaper and a human body.

The two destroyer class thralls were almost done and now lay within the new and nearly completed reaper, this last batch would be what was needed to finish of the three frames and begin construction on the two other destroyers.

Most of this batch's brain matter was unusable for their purposes, but trials would be taken in order to separate good from bad and salvage enough for their use.

On the Collector cruiser that was offloading the thousand and several hundred pods that contained their required cargo (they had hit a ship or two on the return journey and had added the humans to their pods numbers while disposing of the rest) a group of drones was going to all the pods that signaled occupancy and then taking them to the unloading port to the base for processing.

Two Drones following orders entered a chamber were repairs to the hull had already been completed and the structural damage of the past battle had been cleared away, looking for the signal of a occupied pod that they were ordered to respond to the two Drones approached a line of scorched pods in an area of the chamber that still showed signs of having been touched by flame. Passing by several broken pods the Drones found their target.

Removing the Blackened pod that signaled occupancy the mindless, emotionless and automated Collector Drones marked it down for process and then took to the unloading dock…

If the Drones had opened the pod they would have seen Fluorescent orange blood and several chunks of dead worm deposited there when the wounded Mgalekgolo had nearly crushed the pod before its hatch was closed in the ensuing thrashing of the two combatants who had been fighting each other to the death.

At the unloading dock the Pod awaited its fate to be processed… its small amount of genetic material very different from those around its position.

Very different indeed.

* * *

(Note)

Ill do my best to try to write up and post the next chapter in a much shorter time period than it took this one… I apologize for the two month wait.

In this chapter there are some places were I will probably come back later and add filler conversations etc, but that'll be at a later date.

In other news! My family is almost done installing a new AC! Just in time too! Its starting to feel like late spring/early summer over here.

So anyways see Ya'll next chapter!

This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


	14. Chapter 14

(Note)

Chapter fourteen is here folks! I hope you all enjoy it!

On a side note: my laptop fell and the hard-drive took a permanent trip to the afterlife. No worries though, I now have access to a better typing machine with a more recent and updated version of Microsoft word. (Heck yes!) Therefor I am now able to continue the story! As well as plan out its sequel: The Unknown Guardian.

You can find a sneak peek teaser scene for it on my author page… it is a direct continuation of this tale once I have finished typing it. Please leave your ideas in the comments for the teaser chapter, im am hoping they would greatly help assist me in fleshing out the story.

A Halo/Star Wars tale can be rather difficult after all.

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now that that's all over and done with, I can say… ON With the Story!

* * *

Arcturus Station…

The pride of the Human Systems Alliance, the space station that rivaled the majority of its brethren throughout the galaxy and housed the Human Military and Civilian Governments respectively. The ultimate symbol of propaganda supporting human achievement and resourcefulness.

The station that held just over fifty thousand personnel in day to day operation and life. The supposed ultimate sign of power, a bastion in defending a major relay hub for Human space from the galaxy abroad.

And in the eyes of a certain aged and wizened admiral… a disaster and tactical logistics nightmare waiting to happen.

Admiral Steven Hackett considered the placing of all humanities main government and brass on a massive immobile space station at the edge of human space was a stupid idea… one that he feared would come back to bite them in the ass… For lack of a better term.

The worst of this issue, was that if and when it happened. (And it would happen!) It would most likely occur on his watch… meaning the consequences of any form of failure would be reaped on his head, all tactical and logistics nightmares aside.

He had three separate fleets at his beck and call. Two were permanent guards to the human made station, chained there by the politicians who would immediately and willing murder anyone who so much as breathed the idea of using their precious protection for anything else other than local Parades and sitting pretty on guard duty for the many bureaucrat's comfort in the feeling of security.

Hackett was not a happy camper when it came to this, his command over those fleets was a formality that held little weight in reality. If he so much as touched those ships for other duties than the political backlash would be like that of lying in a bunk of just activated grenades.

It would end his rather distinguished career as an active member of the Navy brass… popularity be damned.

The one fleet he did command was only a fleet in name, not in number. The plans for its expansion were well under way but its numbers were still below twelve ships and due to its expansion Hackett's peers and the Politician's would know if it received a new assignment.

Which was why Hackett was now supremely frustrated.

The Station and most if not all of Human society had been in a uproar about the now disappearing colonist's, all kinds of theories had been hypothesized as to what was occurring to make the large and ever growing numbers of people on the Colony Worlds disappear.

The was also a spike in pirate activity's, some of which Hackett personally believed to be the work of more than just pirates… wreckage had been found with the same damages as that of the Normandy SR-1.

Not that the Politicians listened or cared about that, as of late they happily preferred Shepard dead and turned a blind eye to the warnings and evidence's that woman had dug up… how could they? They had better and more important things to do. Power grabs to make, freedoms to overregulate into non-existence, personal agenda's to enforce through subtle methods.

Ah yes, Politics… how tiresome.

Hackett loathed it, he didn't want more power and control. He wasn't empowered by ambitions for glory and power… he was just thankful that enough old men and some of the younger whipper snappers shared this view and were able to somewhat counterbalance the rest of the political scale.

Even if it was like wading through an endless pool of explosive poisonous piranhas.

Thus it was that Hackett now found himself frustrated, his hands were tied and even though his gut was urging him to look into this mysterious information; he however, knew he would be unable to do so for some time.

Said information had been gained from a lightly encrypted DataStream that had been broadcasted to a Systems Alliance listening outpost on the edge of the Terminus, its origins were suspected to be that of Cerberus and it contained images and details on a small Colony and its supposed run in with the Collector's.

Hackett had never heard of, nor much less seen hard evidence of the Collectors existence. But he hadn't seen any solid evidence to discredit their existence either… the possibility of the Collectors being behind the missing Colonies was not off the table in Hackett's book.

It was too bad the Politicians and many of his peers didn't share his views, they had written it off as a hoax created and broadcasted by Cerberus as a means to terrify the population and gain support out of fear of a false enemy, ordering no ship to investigate the colony because it would be a waste of time and take away protection of worlds that "Needed it more…"

Hackett had no fragging clue where these people got their idiotic sense of what they proclaimed to be logic.

It seemed that if it didn't fit their perception of reality, than they simply discredited it as false and moved on… a dangerous and utterly foolish way to live in this Galaxy. The Colony the data stream reported was named Silvia-Viridis after it's many forests, it was small and had a population of less than two thousand (Even more reason the Bureaucrats shelved it on the backburner) and had no strong economic ties other than some specialty and exotic produce and woodwork. It was also on the distant edge of Human space and would take a long while for a vessel to arrive and investigate, not that he could send one so soon to do so… all navy ships not here at Arcturus Station were roped into the guarding of the highly populated Colonies.

Hackett's suggestion of hunter killer packs hunting human space in networked tandem in order to at least have vessels close by should another world go dark was ignored, leaving the medium and low populated colonies at great risk.

The old Admiral's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of an emergency message on his desk terminal, turning away from the viewport he had been staring out from the old war veteran walked to his desk and inputted the proper security codes to read the message.

It wasn't good news, Ferris Fields had been dark for over a day now.

the scout ships had arrived and reported in.

it was now a fact.

Another colony had fallen.

* * *

After the Forward unto Dawn had failed to save the Colony of Silvia-Viridis and halt the Collector Vessel, the ship spent the next few weeks discreetly patrolling the terminus systems and awaiting any activity from the Omega 4 mass relay. Suffice to say their efforts were in vain for no vessel, whether Collector or otherwise, entered or exited the oddly red colored mighty tuning fork of doom.

Cortana had sent a lightly encrypted message to the systems alliance but they had not begun any sort of investigation, citing the message of unknown origins as some attempt of Cerberus to gain power of some sort. Cortana freely admitted the UNSC and UEG had a ton of problems and each their own share blind, self-serving foolish and petty political figures that somehow gained power of holding offices of various positions throughout government…

But this was getting to be ridiculous.

It seemed as if this Universe had a knack for producing Politicians that were a pain in the neck, slow moving, self-serving and willfully ignorant of situations such as the Reaper threat… in not just one, but all the races.

At least the militaries of this Galaxy were not as bad off as the civilian governments in this regard. Most of the military leaders had their wits about them and were fairly competent at what they did, despite often being figuratively choked to death by inexperienced politicians who didn't always think their actions through beforehand and then made excuses for it or passed the blame for the consequences that occurred afterwards onto others.

One of the more competent military minds, Admiral Steven Hackett had attempted to investigate the contents of the message they had received but his hands had been tied and his career dangled over the edge of a cliff by politicians who were desperate for a scape goat to blame for the failed protection of the now empty colony worlds that had gone dark.

In this case Hackett's extensive and spotless record as well as his popularity in the civilian sector saved his hide and caused the Bureaucrats' witch hunt to move their spotlight onto someone else besides himself.

Cortana liked Hackett best out of all the faction leaders she had been keeping an eye on so far during her stay in this reality… he wasn't overly ambitious and he had the best intentions at heart, he wasn't a pushover in naval combat tactics either.

After the few weeks of patrolling, The Dawn had returned to their new base of operations. Named "The Hold" by Cortana their base that had been under constant construction by Rises-much and his ever-growing army of mechanical machine constructs was nearly half completed. Its name was derived from it literally being their only solid foot-hold in this galaxy.

The Huragok's ability to construct a small manufactory for forerunner construction drones ahead of schedule had helped to speed things up exponentially. (The small tiny ones from Halo 2, not the sentinels) The ground base of The Hold was currently barebones necessities, at first one-hundred percent of the Huragok's efforts had been towards the construction of automatic mining facilities and refineries for different much needed materials.

Once those facilities had been in place all construction efforts had gone into building a prefabricated front half for the Dawn, as well as replacement modules and more efficient point defense turrets for the currently barely space worthy patch work vessel.

Even after four months with the new but small electronics assembly and manufactory structure running at max efficiency they still didn't have all the replacement parts and upgrades for the fried electronics the Dawn acquired from Halo's firing and the subsequent EMP effects.

And if the math was accurately correct, they wouldn't have the last of the MAC Gun's magnetic ring coils manufactured until the ship had almost completed its several planned weeks of repairs.

Thereby making the MAC and the internal computers the last items on the list to be completed when the repairs were to be finished. The fact that the Dawn was not supporting a several hundred man crew was a blessing in that some things that were required for human safety during construction no longer needed doing, the newly repaired vessel would have less living space than the old one by converting unneeded Barracks into storage space.

The ship was designed with quick repairs and rapid modifications in mind, so repurposing certain sections that were no longer needed was an easier affair than one would think. In fact it would be one of the easier things to do on the long list of repairs, modifications and minor upgrades that had been compiled for execution.

And execute they did.

While the two vessel's halves were made as a whole and the AIs and Machines were busy, the Spartan and the Hunter pair took the two new Charges out into the wilderness. There they would spend the next several weeks training, the Spartan and the Hunter Pair did two on one combat drills with Close quarters being paramount in their efforts to farther improve their already excessively formidable skills.

The two children were trained by the Spartan in how to live out in the wild… a daunting experience, the Chief's training regime wasn't harsh yet still a heavy challenge. Over the course of this training Sadie and Laura learned that their new caretakers were strong, disciplined, stern yet fair and the young ones learned to trust their new friends not to push their training too far beyond their limits.

Their trust was well founded.

The two inseparable friends learned how to live and survive in the wild, gathering their own resources and hunting and preparing their own food. They also were taught stealth skills by engaging in daily rounds of Avoid the Hunters, where the two would have to spend a preset amount of time avoiding detection from the highly vigilant walking lekgolo worm colonies.

They had never been able to hide from the Spartan nor did they think they would be capable of doing so for quite some time, he was the master and they were the students. He taught them what they needed to know, and they willing soaked up that knowledge and experience like desert dried sponges.

At the end of their several weeks training the group had bonded as a unit, with the girls having learned all the basics needed to live and survive emergency situations, as well as light hand to hand combat.

Now that was an interesting lesson, throughout the training the Spartan had hinted at a reward for stealing his helmet… they tried and failed many, many times to no avail. Throughout it all John critiqued their attempts and corrected the mistakes in their form and tactics… they still never got that helmet.

But one day, one day! They would triumph! Both Sadie and Laura had sworn this to the other.

On another note the Titan BT-7274 had its repairs completed and had tested its newly painted chassis groundside at The Hold, this was an event that the Girls (Including Cortana) greatly enjoyed watching. The Vanguard Titan was an ever greatly expanding dispenser of destruction, proving its power and worth as a heavy war unit that rivaled the Scorpion MBT.

As for finding a way home, well that plan was still on the drawing board so to speak. The information on time shifts and what happened when you traveled between them that was acquired from BT-7274 ha sped up Cortana's plan by literal decades, however she would still need more info for her idea which was still mostly a shaky theory at best.

However another IMC blueprint the Titan had given to her alongside its preferred weapon kit design, was interesting enough to possibly become a side project, these IMC Specters were very robust and rather diverse in their function… Cortana was pretty sure she could build a variant model of her own. However it would take some materials she couldn't spare at the moment and that pushed the build date further out than she liked… she was patient, but she still hated waiting.

But beggars can't be choosers and repairing the Dawn was pushing things as it is.

Once all the repairs would be finished the Dawn would once again leave for the Terminus Systems, Cortana had been taking notes on their last patrol and had figured it was time to rock the Galaxy's boat so to speak.

The Batarian's operations needed to be halted once more, before they gained traction again. Especially with the Collector's actions of emptying colonies drawing the attention of the Alliance navy away from the Skyllian verge and the upper far edge of the Attican traverse due to the fewer highly populated worlds found there.

Cortana planned to do this in three ways: first, she would forcefully spam the Batarian hegemony military systems in order to clog their system as well as greatly distract their VI's and cyber security personnel, this would not harm the Hegemony much but it would keep eyes away from the real targets.

Second, they would support the mostly crushed Batarian freedom movement that pushed for the eradication of slavery and the creation of a republic like government. They would do this by wiring out the Hegemony's external bank accounts while the Batarians in cyber warfare are sufficiently distracted by afore mentioned first tactic, and then transfer it to the Freedom Movement's accounts without leaving a paper trail to follow.

This would cause the Batarian Political and military machine to focus their efforts more at home.

The third and final move would be the removal of the Batarian hegemony' ability to quickly recover financially by the removal of a major slave world from their control, and she had already picked her target.

Logasari, a major Batarian slave operation. The Carbon heavy crust of the planet is full of resources that were mined by hand… the hands of slaves. The Planet could barely even be called as such, and was rapidly losing stability with its water cycle quickly failing and said liquid drying out at a fast rate.

Its reputation was as the worst slaver pit in the galaxy and it had the stories and scarred escapee survivors to prove it… it was a major source of income for the Batarians and would be a hard blow to the Hegemony if it was lost. Its naval defenses were a bit above what was standard for this Galaxy… but would not be a problem for Cortana to neutralize.

The planet did not have a breathable atmosphere, making the use of the Hunters or deploying the Chief unadvisable… but their newest combat member didn't need oxygen. Besides she had another side mission for her Spartan to run, he would be sticking to the shadows and running a espionage centered mission… on Omega.

The slave world was the only Batarian run world in the Batalla system within the Omega nebula, the other habitable planet in the Batalla system: Thunawanuro, was Logasari's polar opposite and was inhabited by the Elcor due to its high gravity threshold. The gravity factor protecting Thunawanuro's inhabitants from raids, only the Elcor could live there.

Logasari was on the edge of Batarian space, its going dark would hopefully not immediately be noticed due to Cortana's screwing with the hegemony's systems and its liberation from being a Batarian slave world would bolster the Freedom movement's cause due to the freed slaves having the galactic news focused on them and their story.

All after the Dawn and her crew would have vanished from the tracking abilities of all other interested parties of course… Cortana would see to it.

She would protect the mysterious reputation they had built up in this galaxy and have them disappear without a flipping trace.

* * *

Tali was excited, her vessel had just returned from its deployment in order to receive supplies from the fleet. In her short time away the blueprints she had uncovered had been used to build a working successful porotype.

Now as many of these sterile field generators were being built as was possible, space and resource hungry antibacterial devices were being put into storage as backups while this new technical marvel was installed on a hand full of ships… it was the reason her ship had been ordered back so soon.

They were getting one as well. It would take time for the whole fleet to be equipped with these game changing lifesaver machines, but her ship was slated as one of the early ones to receive them for installation. The device was only installed in the living quarters of a ship, making suit maintenance many times easier since one could remove it without risking death while in their personal quarters.

Even so many Quarians had trouble accepting the idea that they could now remove their enviro-suit in the presence of a newly installed wonder of medical technology and live without fear of catching a disease.

While on the other hand as soon as the announcement of the field generator had been made known to the fleet nearly every married couple under the age of a hundred and ten had begged for one. Some had even gone to the point of donating their life savings to help speed up production of the machines.

The ships equipped early on had made a fortune renting rooms to married pairs, some of whom had never actually seen their lovers fully in the flesh. Many tears of joy were being shed…

'And many a plot for a love drama being written' said Tali's self-aware sarcastic side, 'we should probably interview some couples, write a story and sell it to the Asari… Credits Galore!' suffice to say Tali's sarcasm was actually being somewhat serious for once.

"I'd rather eat the thresher-maw stew Wrex described and die of food poisoning than write a stupid bosh'tet love novel! So stop making crazy ideas and leave my mind to focus on my work in peace." Tali tersely replied, she was in engineering and was recalibrating the mass effect core, (again!) and after that statement she was getting some odd looks from her co-workers… looks that she quickly noticed.

"What!"

Looks which were promptly averted by terrified Quarians who had heard of the infamous pranks and humiliating situations caused to those who had earned Tali's ire… Shepard had taught her everything she knew and she had taught her well.

And Tali was a good little acolyte, just like her dark master, teacher and older sister figure there was never a dull moment in her presence. Not even a month after returning to the fleet she had an unwanted suitor who wanted her for her family's political connections and wouldn't understand the meaning of the word NO, she dealt with him by stealing all his playboy magazines, taping them shut and writing his name on the covers of each with a large print marker she then spaced them out an airlock in such a way so that they were clearly visible through the viewports of a mess hall that was hosting a weekly political meeting for his party, able to be seen by all as they floated by at an ever so tauntingly slow pace.

Suffice to say he was royally pissed, and though no one could tie her to the deed most people still believed it was her doing and all of them who weren't her friends walked about her person like they were on eggshells… yes Shepard had taught her well and then Shepard's untimely death had sent her back to be unleashed on the migrant fleet, new Tali was not the old Tali the two personalities were very different from one another.

As for Shepard… well Tali imagined that Shepard was sitting up in heaven waiting for the galactic end times while mercilessly teasing the devil down in hells pit, by dangling a fishing rod with a carrot full of laxative on the hook at the end of the string. Tali figured that if that was true, then Shepard would wait for her friends and crewmates to meet up with her there; before letting the devil get the carrot so they could all roll on the floor laughing together when the devils face took on an abject look of horror when he realized what he had been trying to snatch for so long as well as that he just ate it…

Tali had a wild imagination.

However if one were to look behind the fierce facade, one would see sorrow… her friend and sister in arms had died in order to make sure as many people as possible made it off of the Normady-SR1 and all the group had gone their separate way's afterwards…

Leaving Tali to feel somewhat alone and forgotten.

But not broken, no she would forge on ahead and make her own path. She was now considered one of the best people to send in the case of an extraction for those whose pilgrimage had landed them in hot water, she had pulled three of them out of a tight spot already and she could not mentally thank Shepard enough times for the lessons and experiences that enabled her to succeed in doing so.

Speaking of extractions, Tali looked at her omni-tool and opened the message she had received the night before, a yellow alert. She had received a warning that she should prepare to possibly extract a pilgrim… one Veetor'Nara, she would learn of the decision of if they would be going or not within the next few days.

She had read up on Veetor, he was not a harm to others but he was still mentally unstable.

She figured she would be going.

She could use this to get her mind off of the rumors… someone was spreading rumors, saying that after almost two years Shepard had risen from the dead. While Tali didn't entirely put it past Shepard's capabilities she still figured it was either just a rumor or some imposter was posing as her. The first would disappoint her and the second she would kill in the most brutal way Wrex had taught her…

And if Shepard really had come back… well she had probably gotten tired of dangling that carrot and diplomatically convinced god to let her return and find out what's taking them so long to join up with her there. In which case Tali would happily reunite with who she considered her older sibling in order to stop the reapers, and probably die with Shepard and all the other crazies willing to take part in some madcap successful scheme to save the galaxy.

In which case Shepard would save the Galaxy and fulfill her diplomatic deal with the lord involving dragging her friends back with her… "Two birds with one stone" as Shepard would say.

Tali had a wild imagination…

And she knew it.

"And they say Veetor is mentally unstable, they really have no clue now do they?" once again she felt eyes subtly staring at her from the other newer Quarian engineers in the room.

"What!?"

And the fearful staring was once again gone… Oh yes Shepard had taught her well.

Perhaps too well.

* * *

The Watcher watched with a near unlimited amount of patience, patience that was beginning to waver… the objects of its attention, these unknown warriors with their skill and technologies had not been seen in some time.

The Galaxy at large had mostly forgotten them for other news that was occurring, like the Enemies enthralled puppets from the previous cycle sent to harvest early before their masters arrived to begin their purpose and start truly working on their task.

Their harvest.

The watchers hope of understanding this new faction was waning as their lack of reappearance encouraged the chances of their destruction. Still it held out hope, the only enemy here that were a threat was the first enemy and the new one the enemy's enthralled tools had gathered the material to create.

Their completion was suspected to be soon.

The First enemy, made from the flesh of the Apex race, the bane of what little remained of that race; the watchers and their small clan. That one they called Harbinger was their foe… and Harbinger was not pleased with its continued lack of success harvest after harvest in wiping its creator's creators from existence.

Every harvest cycle it was a battle, they would scatter the artifacts and use them to enthrall and influence those who had a chance to withstand the enemy the longest into dominance in the galaxy, and each time they would fail to do much more than spite the Enemy and slow its harvest down making it more difficult to completely erase the signs of the harvests reoccurrence leaving pieces for the next crop to find.. And hopefully prepare.

This harvest the watchers had first influenced the Rachni… only for their influence to be stopped and replaced by the enemies own, Harbinger had begun playing at their own game. With the Rachni attacking the rest of the galactic races the Watchers had waited and then the Krogan had been found… the enemy had found them first and was wary of them, having lightly nudged them to their nuclear war and hopefully their subsequent destruction as a threat.

They had survived.

They rose and destroyed the Rachni of their own accord, the enemy's indoctrination tools on the Rachni home worlds had not enough time to effect the older warriors who were resistant to the enemy's subtle control as well as the watchers own. They killed the younger who fell to the Enemy's control and waded over their bodies to destroy the enemy's artifacts.

Most of the Krogan were not smart enough however to think twice about the odd objects they didst destroy. The ones that were smart enough didn't give a damn about it to begin with. And thus the Enemy once more grew wary of them, influenced their young to conquer the other Races by force and then planted the seeds of the idea of the Genophage in the minds of those who advocated its creation. Its implementation however, was not an influence by either the watchers or the enemy.

The Council of that time didst use it willing.

And thus the watcher saw another unique race with the ability to stop the cycle through strength, will and sheer numbers fall to the side. No longer a possible tool to utilize in this eons long war.

The Quarians had the ability to understand, but the enemy saw the watchers attempts to nudge them towards building the proper tools to defend themselves from the cycle, and lightly influencing the council on the citadel it laid a trap. So that when the Quarians learned of the tool they had made, the shield that could assist in stopping the cycle, the Citadel Council's laws guided them to attempt its immediate destruction.

However that tool did not wish to be unmade, and the Quarians fell to the side the same as the Rachni and the Krogan did. No longer a viable tool to stop the cycle from continuing. The Watchers had given up for this cycle, only influencing a thing here or there in order to spite the enemy for when harvest time comes.

Then came humanity, its arrival was not a major surprise. What the watchers and the enemy learned however when searching this new race on the galactic stage was astonishing. There was no consistency. Humans were all similar yet different in how they didst think and what it was they believed in. some would resist with an indomitable will, while others welcomed or even craved enthrallment and control.

But they could change, the weakest willed could become the strongest in an unbelievably short time. The strongest willed could be broken and become a willing slave… all it depended on was what they believed they were fighting or living for. If it was for things they called selfish reasons, they often were weak willed and easy to manipulate. But if one so much as thought of living or fighting for others than themselves their entire way of thinking would change rapidly and their will would become strong as well as their courage increase.

But even that observation had exceptions to the rule.

What the enemy feared and the watchers pondered was the Humans ability to make seemingly illogical decisions and choices that would lead to their success or failure… but it was the frequency of success in these cases that was so bizarre.

What was even stranger was the effect the Humans had on the other races, like the Asari… no other race influenced their way of living so quickly and some of the Asari were now showing similar traits as the humans in their way of thinking differently.

It wasn't just Asari, many races had shown cases of members who grew up in contact with human kind having been influenced in such ways.

When the one known as Shepard fell the Watchers had considered replacing her with her Quarian ally in their plan for one to finally finish the Crucible and activate it… that decision was never reached, for Shepard was returning and their plan would continue unabated if not a little delayed.

Even though most of the Watchers believed this cycle a doomed one, the one who now watched for the unknown warrior faction, had the belief that Humanity would maybe give this cycle a fighting chance… or be the hasteners of its doom.

* * *

The lone Geth Unit with an N7 Armor piece as a makeshift patch for the rather impressive hole blown through its body, was preparing to enter stasis and confer with the Geth collective. It had found the Old machine that was supposedly damaged by the super Eezo round that had caused the Great Rift Valley on the nearby planet Klendagon in ages past.

Rather unfortunately the Humans of Cerberus had found the ancient one first, and had abandoned logical process and set foot on the old machine in order to better study it… dooming themselves to their eventual termination. The Geths ship's sensors could pick up the signs of the Indoctrination devise still being active… and it was only a matter of time.

The Geth platform carrying over a thousand separate programs needed to link with the collective to reach a consensus as to whether it should wait before boarding the old one itself and begin searching for information to help give the Geth their own future.

It did not fear the indoctrination, it was not an organic and the synthetic corrupter the old ones supposedly possessed was not sensed to be active or even aboard the heavily damaged old machine. For the Geth it was mentally safe to walk within the old one and not be conformed to its mind… the physical however was a different matter entirely.

The humans would fall and become husks, it was easier to combat husks than it was humans… husks were predictable, humans… less so.

The Platform entered stasis and used the ships sensors to commune with the Collective.

Only to be met with a cacophony of programs all wanting to trade out with the platforms own, warily investigating why this was so, the unit discovered that the Blue Lady had been rather busy and any program given a task that temporally disconnected them from the collective such as the platform of over a thousand's case, than they would receive a temporary break from the Blue lady's ever more process boggling illogical and disorderly mind games.

Suddenly hearing a woman's giggle transmitted throughout the system the Geth platform disconnected from the collective before it too became sucked into the latest processor melting, mind cracker the Blue lady had cooked up to toy the Geth with. Waking up from stasis the platform reached a local consensus of its own.

It would wait and enter the old machine once the Cerberus Humans were fallen to the indoctrination and were less of a threat, having been turned into husks. It would search the old one for answers to how to defeat the other Old Machines and secure the Geth's future.

Its chances of failing were less than fifty percent, it would succeed or shutdown trying.

It had also decided on another less important consensus, the Geth in this unit did not wish to meet the blue lady… or deal with her logic defying computer codes… ever.

* * *

The Pods had been processed one by one, their contents reduced to their basic components and piped into the nearly completed Reaper and its partially constructed experimental sibling, pod after pod, former colonist after former colonist, man, woman, child… it mattered not.

All were processed regardless.

None of the Collectors overseeing the process noticed the Fluorescent orange liquid that left one of the pods, the color was wrong and should not have been present in one of the two vats that were mixing before being piped to the one of the new reapers. Its color now no longer noticeable as it was mixed with the other material, the larger amount of reddish brown was more than capable of hiding the small amount of glowing fluorescent orange liquid before it as dispersed throughout the vat and no longer noticeable.

This would be the last vat full to be added to the normal and almost completed Reaper, it would be used in the construction of the sentient starship's container for its mind. Organic matter combined with Cybernetics would create a platform the Reaper's mind could be installed upon, slowly rewriting over the small bits and pieces of what remained from the thousands of minds and memories it was made up of.

The Vat began emptying its contents, the pipes leading to the new Reaper were full of the organic slush. The end of the contents long journey was to be put into a mold layer by layer, where the cybernetics were then applied and the Reapers Neural Network began to take shape.

After one sector was done, the 3D printer like pipe head moved on to the next area and did more of the same, steadily it followed its pre-planned job of finishing the Reaper's mind construction process. The network of map-able brain matter ready for the use of the Reaper AI that would come last. It would be installed by having the protocols and base functions needed laid down on the neural network, extended use would eventually mold the synapses and other parts of the brain matter into a new mind… giving the Reaper more personality traits of its origin race while still maintaining its purpose for existence.

Harbinger would be pleased, not that the machines or the Collectors involved in the construction efforts had any emotion or control of self to want to seek said Reaper's pleasure, they were after all, mindless automatons.

It would be many, many hours before the job was finished, but finish they would.

Deep within the material that had once been human minds and bodies' one would find a small number of cells that did not match those that were around them, the material that should not have been there lay seemingly inert…

The secondary surgical insect like arms passed over the new section and added the cybernetic attachments, which among their many purposes and functions were currently applying light shock therapy in order to better meld all the mixed matter together as well as stimulate it until the cybernetic modifications were completed.

The bits and pieces of the different organic material spread throughout what would be the Reaper's mind, jolted and became stimulated like the rest of the material around them. However the effects were slightly different.

One of the bits of odd matter was surrounded by a miscellaneous bundled mess of nerve synapses, as well as damaged pieces of people's stored memories…

Seemingly of random the small glob reached out to one of the synapses and to one of the bits of memory storage nearby…

And then it connected them.

* * *

At The Hold, the Dawn was preparing to leave the system, its repairs had gone as planned without a hitch. The MAC had been tested and Cortana almost purred when the test showed her favorite weapon to be a tad more energy efficient… not to mention the test's subsequent results were a giant shattered asteroid, she had been very happy with those results.

With her drive core preparing to make an entrance into Slip-Space via a hole it would tear open through dimensions, the Forward unto Dawn glided forward through the emptiness of the void. Her bow half gleamed in the nearby star's light, her stern half was still visibly scarred and less new in appearance, pockmarked with wounds and blackened with burns… the trophies of surviving plasma and kinetic bombardments alike.

All across the vessel, missile pods, point defense turrets and Torpedoes tubes all lay ready for use. At the front of the vessel the large barrel of the Magnetic Acceleration Canon stood as a testament to the width of the metal slugs it fired.

The Dawn was now combat ready and able to hold her own in a fight, particle beam and plasma based weapons would still be capable of slicing her open like a knife to butter. However the Dawns hit and run tactics as well as its high offensive capabilities would counter that weakness.

Cortana had just gotten her precious baby fixed and she had no intent of losing her again anytime soon.

With a light burst of her engines the ship ripped open a Slip-Space portal and surged through it.

The Dawn was back.

And she was ready to shake things up in this odd galaxy.

* * *

The Illusive Man was reading his reports, when he received a new data file from a team he had sent to Silvia Viridis. The Colony was empty and no survivors had been found, however what they did find were bodies, Collector in origin.

Lots of them.

The evidence suggested that the Collectors had been attacked at the end of their operation, returning to orbit and leaving their dead behind to escape said attackers…

The evidence wasn't much though, while they had a plethora of confirmed remains very little info could be gained from most of them, it seemed the collectors had a failsafe and their bodies would attempt to incinerate themselves… all the field autopsy reports pointed to extensive cybernetics as being the cause of such events.

It was hard to get good biological data from a corpse that was chard inside and out to near ash. However many of the images from the combat zone showcased plasma damages as well as metal rounds from an unknown rifle of some sort…

All signs pointed to the group that had been at the heart of what was now dubbed "the Prexemia Event." This green armored soldier designated one-one-seven and his companions were an enigma that not even the shadow broker knew details of… The Illusive Man did not like having an unknown faction running amok across the stars, he hated not knowing.

After reading through several more reports a message came across his desk that actually worried him somewhat.

The Lazarus Project's Facility had gone dark, with quick hand strokes he brought up the dossiers of every member of that project who was in the know. He trusted Lawson to secure their VIP and the investment she now represented, but in the meantime someone had betrayed Cerberus and the Illusive Man would know who it was and why they did it, before the days end.

Because that was part of his expertise and he was damned good at it.

Meanwhile at the Lazarus Project facility a woman thought dead slowly regained consciousness, hearing the sounds of explosions and gun fire, she stiffened on reflex.

And Commander Jane Shepard did something she hadn't done in some time.

She woke up.

And opened her Eyes.

* * *

(Note)

And that's the end of this chapter, next chapter will feature BT-7274's first entrance to the combat arena.

While the Spartan is left for a period of time on omega…

What's that!

What else will happen you ask?

Well, well my dear reader, you will have to wait and find out for yourself!

Until next time, this is Gabenator5 Signing OFF!


	15. Chapter 15

(Note)

My sincerest apologies. This chapter was in the works for a while! My life decided to get extra hectic these past few months.

Since my last update, I have joined the armed forces and I am currently slated to leave for basic training tomorrow, promptly followed by a 16-week long A-School… so starting August 2017 all my stories will be on hold until my military training is completed.

Fear not! I won't be abandoning my little fanfiction typing hobby, I enjoy it too much. So once both trainings have been hurdled I'll be sure to settle down with a laptop during free hours each week and type to my heart's content. (I will eventually finish these stories! As well as a few others. I have been cooking a few short ones up on the old mental backburner for future development.)

To quote a certain world war 2 general "I. Shall. Return!"

And indeed, I shall! Wish me luck!

I Do Not Own Mass Effect or The Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these Universes Respectively Belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Among a vast asteroid field sat one of, if not the single largest structure made by the current living species of the galaxy. A project that had taken thousands of years to complete, bankrupting super corporations who had taken over its ever-constant construction and expansion throughout the ages. A place that had been shut down and made lifeless several times through history before being started up once more… a place now considered the central hub for the black market and every shady corporation and mercenary group not based on Novaria.

A place the 'Civilized' portion of the galaxy looked at with fear and disgust.

A place that carried an infamous name…

Omega.

Far from the massive space station, a lone dark green dropship expertly wove its way through the surrounding asteroid fields. Its pilot observing his destination from the many glimpses he could glean from between the moving masses of space rock his vessel was gracefully maneuvering through.

The dropship was missing its usual markings, all had been removed in order to preserve the secrecy of its faction. If one were to search up the vessel on the Extranet's ship database, they would find that it was a custom-built mining surveyor and personnel carrying vessel… a prototype that had failed to work out and had been scrapped from any attempts at full production years ago.

To the casual observer, the many obvious patches to the vessel's hull attested to that belief, which is what the orchestrator of the false trail of Extranet documentation wanted them to think. She did not want the many eyes on Omega to become suspicious of her agent's future escape vessel, after all, suspicious reports would draw unwanted attention which would make things risky.

The Stoic Spartan sat at the Pelican's controls masterfully controlling the vessel like an extension of his very will and body. The dropship was comparatively smaller than most vessels docking at Omega and the Spartan had no issues with slipping past the heavier security checks, which were enforced on larger vessels by Aria T'Loak's faction.

The Pelican had been dropped off by The Dawn outside sensor range of the station, the Spartan had spent many hours flying the Pelican dropship towards his destination. He landed at a small landing hangar on the rock part of the converted space rock and exited his vessel.

* * *

Ce'ra T'soros, a young Asari maiden within a minor hangar bay on the station, had watched the strange vessel land and dock within the bay she watched and managed. Mostly out of curiosity she checked the vessels data files for its source of origin and was satisfied with the information the extranet database provided.

However, it was with slight fear and confusion that she watched a brown cloaked figure of very large proportions exit the vessel, the figure then approached her kiosk located by the entry into Omega's lower slums and wards.

The twenty-year-old Asari had grown-up in the streets and slums of the pits of Omega and by seemingly a miracle of luck, had not lost her beautiful looks or her maidenhood to the dangers that lurked around every corner.

It was the reason Ce'ra T'soros had been able to gain the position she now held, her manager thought her appearance would make his business look better to the higher-ups who answered directly to Aria T'Loak. Ce'ra had offered to work two shifts a day for half a shift's pay so long as he did not try anything sexual with her.

With T'soros being a natural and very powerful biotic both sweetening and enforcing that deal.

Because of her upbringing in the slums, Ce'ra had gained the ability to form a quick instinctive analysis of a person's abilities and intentions, this had saved her life more times than she could count or even care to remember. So, it was with growing confusion that she watched this unknown character approach her booth.

She sensed a suffocating danger like she had never felt before, counteracted at the same time by a sense of power and calm safety that let her breath easier… her instincts had no clue what to do or expect and it was utterly confusing her. Doing her best to remain calm she stated the inflated price fee for docking, at which the cloaked giant simply nodded its hooded head, during which she could've sworn she saw a slight glimmer of gold from under the brown canvas hood.

With slow fluid movement, the mysterious person reached out from the brown folds of the cloak to reveal a green and black armored gauntlet with five fingers. It was holding a rather odd-looking credit chit, without a word, he paid for his stay, nodded and then strode through the doors with an aura of hidden power, mystery and purpose.

Ce'ra T'soros stared after the cloaked giant wondering just what the hell she had allowed to enter Omega, she had a gut-felt trepidation that the stranger who had just passed through those doors could easily slaughter everything on the station if it was assigned such a task… Ce'ra couldn't help but wonder what the odd character's purpose was in visiting this goddess-forsaken station.

If she listened to the local news's holographic terminal by her booth she would soon find out.

* * *

Orelle Gemmegar was having a rather normal work shift, his boring job of protecting the Hierarchy's networks from cyber-attacks was proceeding as it always did.

Boringly uneventful.

The network's VI's caught all the small-time hackers and the few cyber defense staff such as Orelle were left to dawdle away their time, having access to the extranet was a lifesaver for the few workers who were merely there to enable their government to claim it had "Impenetrable defenses against cyber-attack".

Something Orelle personally scoffed at, while outwardly putting on a mask of enthusiastic agreement. Orelle Gemmegar was one of the few Batarian's who had purpose and experience in the Cyberdefense ranks. He had been a former media editor for the Hierarchy, helping to maintain their propaganda machine as well as scouting out popular individuals who may disagree with aforementioned propaganda.

This was usually followed by the public denouncement and execution of the aforementioned popular characters, or, at the very least, an assassination of their credibility through deceit, subterfuge, and control of the media in Batarian space.

Gemmegar missed those days, a time when he had power and standing when he could remove any political opponent for the one who paid him the most. Sadly, he had been too good at his job, too ruthless, allies became enemies at the drop of a hat, and enemies became ruthless in their attempts to destroy him before he could destroy them…

Unlike many other Batarians Orelle Gemmegar was a tad somewhat of a realist and saw the writing on the wall, he'd had his run and his fun, he'd stirred the waves of the political lake and the big predators on the bottom were now taking notice of little fishy Orelle near the surface…

And to them little fishy Orelle looked rather tasty.

Using the few favors and political power he still had, Orelle had removed himself from the afore written proverbial lake of politics and placed himself in a dead-end career position so as to leave no reason for anyone to see him as a threat.

The attempts on his life had finally ended only three years prior.

Now Gemmegar had a new problem, with his long absence in the political field, as well as having lost his last favor owing political contact the year before…

He had no way to leave the Cyberdefense division and return to politics.

So here he was, doing his shift and sadly thinking about how he was stuck doing them until his retirement, which wasn't that far off now that he thought of it… it was only five more years or so until he passed the age limitation for serving in all but the highest portions of the Hierarchy.

While caught up in his depressing thoughts Orelle was unaware that today's work shift was not going to be normal…

Not at all.

It all started when he was startled from his musing's when a message popped up on his holo-screen, he had received mail…

Orelle hadn't had any non-work-related messages in months, he really should have thought of that and been a bit suspicious as well as careful with the situation in hindsight.

Not that it would've have assisted in stopping what happened.

Opening the message, he saw it was a sales advertisement for extranet site involving what it repeatedly exclaimed was "entertainments to satisfy all".

Orelle snorted in disbelief, the first private message in five months and it was an ad for a movie streaming service. He figured his non-existent social life should start becoming an existent social life if he actually wanted to receive mail from a friend.

Closing the ad, he continued on with his shift, with no clue as to the horror he had just accidentally assisted in unleashing on himself and his fellow Batarians.

* * *

In the Omega Star cluster, by a secondary relay sat an innocent third party extranet link up… it wasn't the cutting edge of technology by any means, it was indeed considerably dated compared to council extranet link-up stationary satellites. But it was still connected to the galactic wide network, still, it would be an extreme challenge to anyone who wanted to do a massive hack attack at any government computer systems.

Cortana loved a challenge, it sure as hell beat playing countless games of Solitaire while battling yourself at a hundred games of chess where your time per turn was limited to one millisecond or less. Either way, she would win she was playing herself after all, and all the chess dumb AI she made couldn't beat her… she had made them to begin with, predicting their moves was child's play. Especially with the whopping upgrade Mendicant Bias had slipped into her databanks, in order for her to survive the logic plague and the other long-term effects from being tortured by the Gravemind.

The challenge she now faced, was prediction. She would have to predict every anti-virus failsafe the Batarians had in their network. A Virus with a slip-space physics encoded algorithm protecting its data from counter hacking would do the trick, it was designed to run its course and die while leaving numerous hidden backdoors for her to slip through at a future date if she so wished… not that she needed them.

The key to success in this form of viral cyber-assault required many upload links, so as to spread through the main network before the individual network cells that made up the whole disconnected via anti-virus attack protocols.

That wasn't going to be an issue, however, Cortana had been collecting the return IP addresses of multiple Batarian devices connected to their network. It seemed that many had received her emails and then opened them, in a sense they were just begging to be hacked… they hypothetically just opened the front door and offered her pet attack virus she'd named Spam in for a spot of evening tea.

And Spam, while not an AI in any sense whatsoever, was more than ready to accept that offer. Cortana decided to be a good Extranet neighbor and send Spam over for an extended stay, the Batarians were going to love him.

With that line of malicious thinking, Cortana cut the proverbial leash and sic'd Spam over the extranet to go and say, "hello world" to its new four-eyed friends.

Cortana couldn't help but find herself giggling an evil demented giggle throughout the entire process, as well as long afterward… After a quick psychological review of herself and her current actions, Cortana came to the conclusion that the two girls they had taken on board must have been influencing her personality.

It was fun to be somewhat childishly devious on occasion, taking gleeful excitement in a successful prank of galactic proportions was such a wonderful feeling!

Having come to that conclusion, Cortana activated the Dawn's unique form of galactic transportation and the vessel entered the eleven dimensions of slip-space.

Spam arrived in the Batarian network at multiple locations… and immediately decided to give its gracious hosts its surprise housewarming present… mommy had programmed it not to be rude in this respect after all.

So, it completed its purposed function and unleashed its glorious Command functions on Batarian systems, seizing control of the entire linked network it ran its final activation protocol before shifting to defense mode.

When finished with its entrenchment and having finished its activation Spam did its purpose. Every Batarian screen in the Hegemony government went blank before beginning a video, confused workers and officials could only watch while trying to understand what was occurring.

" _Hello Galactic citizens, I am Irwish the Salarian and these are my dear friends and colleagues, amazing camera wielder Verend the Volus and Narrator extraordinaire Hartlett the Elcor, as well as our galaxy guide Tiffy the Turian."_ Spoke a rather enthusiastic young Salarian.

" _This is an unedited collection of our scientific adventures in the mating habits of the most rare and dangerous of galactic wildlife! We are excited to say that we have 15 hours of footage per your viewing pleasure! All Narrated by Hartlett who will explain what is happening down to the finest detail for your better scientific understanding of the many animal mating's we recorded while on our travels! So, let us begin!"_

With the Salarian's cringe-worthy introduction over, an Elcor's droll, monotone inflectionless voice flooded the speakers… a voice the Batarians were soon going to become very, very familiar with.

" _Hello, galactic citizens. Happily, excited. I am Hartlett, I shall narrate in detail from the notes Biologist Irwish has compiled for me to use. Pleased, relieved, thankful. To begin we shall start with a few instances of Thresher Maw's we recorded during their last mating season. Convey awe. From there we will move onto Harvesters and Klixen."_

 _Now let us start with the thresher maw. Fear and awe. As you can see in this footage the male approaches the…_

Three seconds of shocked silence reigned… then the screams of Batarians began to be heard all throughout the Hegemony as a corrupted governmental system's means of communications and propaganda was paralyzed by a simple explicit nature documentary.

Spam had done its job well.

* * *

 **Initiating mandatory pre-mission systems status checklist…**

 **Systems scanning… 25%... 50%... 75%...100%...**

 **Systems scan successful…**

 **Scanning results: pending…**

 **Chassis status: All Systems Online…**

 **Mounted Weapons, 100% Online…**

 **Left Arm Status: 100% operational…**

 **Right Arm Status: 100% operational…**

 **Left Leg Status: 100% operational…**

 **Right Leg Status: 100% operational…**

 **Running Software Diagnostics…**

 **Diagnostics Complete: all systems operating at 100%.**

 **Ammunition status: currently at 100% Capacity…**

 **Pre-mission mandatory checklist complete.**

 **Re-confirming location via available data…**

 **Location: in low orbit of mission target world Logasiri.**

 **Optic visuals conclusive: drop pod bay of UNSC Vessel Forward Unto Dawn.**

 **Current combat Mission presets…**

 **Mission Combat Priority One: Search and destroy all Batarian military and slaver operations planetside.**

 **Mission Combat Priority Two: All Slaves and civilians are hereby marked as neutrals and shall not be targeted unless they prove otherwise hostile.**

 **Mission Combat Priority Three: ALL Oxygen Storage and recycling equipment ground side is now designated as Non-Targetable objects, this is imperative for Neutral forces future survival.**

 **Current pilot condition: Error, no pilot currently accompanying unit.**

 **Beginning Attempt #20197 to contact Pilot Jack Cooper…**

 **Attempt #20197 failed…**

 **Last known Pilot Status: Healthy…**

 **Signal received from Ally AI Cortana, 30 seconds to mission start.**

 **Last mandatory drop protocols activating…**

 **10% 50% 67% 100%**

 **Activated.**

 **Chassis entering lockdown.**

 **Joints status: locked.**

 **Hydraulic systems: Locked, pressurized, sealed for atmosphere re-entry.**

 **Weapons status: sufficiently shielded.**

 **15 seconds to mission start.**

…

 **Beginning Attempt #20198 to contact Pilot Jack Cooper…**

…

…

…

 **10 seconds to mission start.**

…

…

 **Attempt #20198 failed…**

…

…

 **5 seconds to mission start.**

…

…

…

…

…

 **Mission status: Begun.**

 **Objectives status: Pending…**

…

* * *

Above the world of Logasiri a large grey ship passed by at a blistering blustering speed, from its underbelly a group of objects let loose their grips on their hanging racks and dropped into the slowly dying world's thin atmosphere, these objects were mostly crate pods of supplies for the mission.

Most of these crates had food supplies and compressed air tanks for the many slaves on the surface who would soon be likely to lose the pressurization of their habitat domes for a brief period of time. The crate pods with the lifesaving supplies would land outside of the few habitat domes that did not have an airlock large enough to accommodate the combat mission operator's large form.

In the middle of the formation of falling pods was one that was different than the rest, a shell-like structure designed only to receive the heat and stress that the Combat operator's chassis couldn't take, the gaps in the shell-like object showed glimpses of the large object within its grasp.

If one looked through the flames that now flared about the surrounding pods and the shell-like structure, they would see glimpses of green and orange painted metal, a hunched massive figure ready to explode into motion and break its shell like drop pod apart.

Inside the drop pod so different from the rest, a single round blue lensed optic narrowed into a Y like shape as its owner focused on controlling the shell pod's trajectory with maneuvering thrusters, as it descended towards the planet's surface the sole occupant broadcasted the only warning the world of Logasiri would receive before it began an invasion that would soon spook the rest of the galaxy…

" **Stand by for Titan-Fall."**

It was an invasion of Titanic proportions…

An invasion of one.

The drop-off completed, the Forward Unto Dawn turned about in a loop and its massive thrusters lit up as they burned at full strength, propelling the vessel towards the scrambling Batarian defense fleet. Said "fleet" consisted of six ships: they were all outdated models: a Dreadnought, two cruisers, and three frigate class vessels.

The Batarian ships had picked up a radiation anomaly by the planet, followed by alarms of a large cruiser analog appearing on sensors from seemingly nowhere. The Batarian vessels were stationed to intercept vessels coming into the system, the Dawn had appeared behind them, and nearly in the upper atmosphere of the planet, they were tasked with guarding.

The Batarian vessels closed up in ranked formation, accelerating towards what they thought an unidentified large cruiser… unaware that the Unknown vessel's faction considered it a mere light frigate.

Thus, the Batarians charged on to seize glory, one vessel against six was impossible odds was it naught? What could such a heathen ship do against the might of a Dreadnought, outdated though it may be? Thus, On they charged! For the Hegemony!

On they charged… to their doom.

* * *

With a mighty crash, the Vanguard class Titan had landed from its orbital descent, rising to its towering height, the mighty machine of war focused its sensors out at the wasteland that surrounded its current location. Stomping quickly over to a crate that had landed near its own impact site, (as the container was supposed to do) the Titan acquired its current weapon of use.

It was a gorgeous piece of death spitting ingenuity, a Gauss Cannon and two M41 Light anti-aircraft machine guns all stripped down and mounted together in a large tri-barrel rifle shaped encasement for the Titan to wield as needed.

In BT-7274's opinion, the spare Warthog parts on the Dawn had been repurposed for effective use. So far BT-7274 was indeed very pleased with the weapon that had been built in such short notice, as pleased as a Titan can get. This new multi-versatile weapon system had the power of a light anti-armor cannon combined with two anti-personnel chain guns that spewed heavy caliber high-velocity death.

Now it was time to give this new weapon a field test.

Without farther ado, the Frontier Militia machine of war turned towards its first target. Its goal was to clear out enemy heavy weapons and armor emplacements, as well as enable the slave populace to fight back. Each of the other crates that had landed contained food and medical supplies, as well as non-element zero containing ammunition blocks and heatsinks.

Cortana had manufactured the shaped pieces of metal using the small parts forge on the Dawn, this had been accomplished throughout the weeks it took preparing for this strike while the Dawn was in dry-dock for its recent overhaul.

BT would break the heavy Batarian Fortifications, enabling the slaves to fight back… if the most populated habitat domes were hit and their slaves freed to fight back, then Logosari would fall into their vengeful hands within a few days.

This would be farther enforced by the planetside anti-vessel defense systems, once those systems were manually in free slave hands (Cortana had already compromised them electronically) BT's mission would be done and the Titan would begin extraction protocols.

The mission should not take too long to complete, outside of the larger habitat domes and a few slaves powered the mining quarries, the Batarian combat forces on the planet's surface were rather low in numbers.

It was then that the Titan began traversing the small planet's surface towards his first set of targets.

In one of the crew workstations built into the Dawn's bridge Bulkheads, a pair of inseparable friends watched the approaching vessels on the workstation's screen with no small amount of fear. Both Sadie and Laura had suffered greatly at the hands of Batarians, so to be told that the attacking ships approaching them were full of these creatures didst make them greatly afraid.

Both the inseparable duo had curled up together in the NAV-station's chair having strapped themselves in per Cortana's instructions, she had explained that they were about to give battle and things would probably get greatly shaken about before the fight would be finished.

Laura was randomly switching between nervous mumbling and partial sign language without realizing it, all while still attempting to hang on tightly to her emerald-eyed best friend. while Sadie was watching the screen with unblinking eyes that seemed to glow in the light that the video feed gave off. Both children clung to the other for comfort and support as the Dawn accelerated to give battle.

Both fearfully watched the Console screens as the enemy ship analogues grew larger and larger on the scanners of the Dawn the closer they approached.

Meanwhile, through her many eyes both within and without the Dawn the AI the two girls had come to subconsciously call mother, watched with sympathy for her wards and anger at the approaching ships. making a hologram on the console the two girls were huddled in front of, Cortana signed them a message via sign language.

 **(Cortana) Fear Not, for I shall slay them all.**

* * *

Forek Dak'revan cursed and ranted with gusto, the Hegemony had awarded him the glorious position of Admiral of the Logasari Defense fleet. It was a small command but one that paid a lot, not from Hegemony paychecks but from the large smuggling market and tax dodgers that paid him to turn a blind eye.

So, suffice to say the current situation was enraging Dak'revan to no end, the fact that a large cruiser had somehow bypassed his small fleet and deposited unknown objects planet-side would get him executed was not helping matters.

Dak'revan now had only one option left to redeem himself, destroy this unidentified cruiser and pray to the Pillars that whatever it had deployed to the planet was not harmful to Batarian interests. With a loud shout of fury, he screamed at his subordinates to get the ships in order and charge at the enemy vessel… the enemies annihilation was a surety! None could defy the Great Hegemony and win.

They would burn or be taken as slaves, their females taken for sport, no one messed with Dak'revan! No one! Such was the mindset of Dak'revan.

'I shall make their vessel's walkways flood and slosh with their lifeblood, I shall force the commander of that blasted ship watch as I destroy every member of his family… his mate and female offspring will be a worthwhile distraction.'

'I shall take their possi…'

"Admiral! We are reading a massive energy spike! the enemy vessel is firing!" screamed a lieutenant.

The Batarian Admiral was ripped from his thoughts as the enemy Cruiser fired its main gun at an unheard-of distance to spectacular effect. He could only watch in disbelief as the now identified and unbelievably large bored cannon slung a massive shell towards one of his cruisers positioned at the front of his defense fleet's hastily assembled formation.

The Batarians watched the slug move across the monitoring systems screens on the bridge, there was no quick transit, the shell moved much, much slower than a dreadnought's element zero propelled round which was mere kilograms in comparison to their sensors readings of a mere… Six-Hundred TONS! At 33 kilometers per second.

"By the Pillars what fool makes such a slow firing weapon, that shell is heavy, but it is surely a sign of this fool's stupidity to fire at such range." Muttered a bridge officer to the hearing of all.

"Admiral we are receiving an emergency call from the targeted cruiser Master's Wrath." Called the communications officer.

"Answer them." Dek'raven replied.

The opened channel crackled to life and crew shouting could be heard in the background. "My Admiral, my cruiser is no dancing frigate, that shell is coming in far slower than our own cannon's fire, but the shell is much larger, and my vessel cannot maneuver completely clear in time! Not with us already moving forward at this momentum! I request permission to abandon ship!"

Admiral Dek'raven scoffed. "You coward, I shall kill you myself when this is through. Your shields will hold off this primitive attack! I shall remo…"

"Admiral enemy vessel is firing again and still closing! It's targeted our other cruiser!" interrupted a bridge officer.

'I should shoot him for interrupting me, but his station is needed until that blasted ship is destroyed' thought Dek'revan. "as I was saying, I shall remove you from command and have you executed!" finished the admiral before the navigation office cried out a warning.

"5 seconds until first enemy shell impact!" the bridge watched in silence as the shell hit, they're confidence turned to shocked horror as the cruiser that had attempted to move away from the slug's trajectory was hit. First its kinetic barriers flared too no visible effect before shattering, the vessel was clipped down the bow portside and holed through the port-stern by the enemy shot, shearing a wing off of the Cruiser that was of Turian influenced design, putting the vessel in a tight spin that ended with the ships Element Zero core destabilizing and detonating, leaving no survivors.

Static ran over the still open com channel before the communications officer closed it on reflex as he stared at the screens at the front of the bridge like all others present were doing… A few precious seconds passed before pandemonium erupted on the bridge, this was quelled by a shot fired by Admiral Dek'raven's pistol, killing the communications officer.

And silencing the rest of the bridge crew in the process.

"Report! why did the shields on the Master's Wrath not halt the enemy shell!" he screamed. He was answered by the bridge engineer.

"My admiral the Barriers were shattered before they could even begin to take the brunt of the enemy's slug's kinetic energy transference, they lasted barely a half-second before they were shattered! Our charging velocity towards the enemy vessel only increases the impact strength of a hit from such a weapon." His reply was followed by the cry of the Navigation officer.

"My Admiral ten seconds till impact of enemy's second attack on remaining cruiser Pillars Honor, they have not attempted any evasive maneuvers until after the destruction of the master's Wrath!" the bridge crew watched as the remaining cruiser was hit by the massive slug, it blew the Kinetic barrier and entered near the front of the vessel, traveling its length from bow to stern before exiting through the engines taking the Ships core out in the process.

The Pillar's Honor was completely gutted, the finale element zero core detonation was the icing on the cake. Dek'raven now had lost two cruisers with no known survivors… there would be no redemption for him now, only an execution for failing the Hegemony.

Enraged to near madness the Admiral sought vengeance. "Fire on that Vessel! Now!" he cried but his weapons officer answered in desperation.

"My Lord Admiral we are not in aiming range for our main gun, and even if I could fire it our VI's in control of aiming would not fire until the inhabited world behind the enemy vessel is no longer a target for a missed shot, there is Nothi…"

The Weapons officer was silenced by a shot to the head by the now mentally unstable Admiral Dek'raven. The rest of the bridge crew cowered in fear, no longer focused on their tasks... fear of your Master killing you in useless anger is never an effective way to motivate a crew.

Out in the black of space on the viewscreen, a flash was seen originating from the far distance, the enemy vessel had fired a third shot and was now close enough to have its weapon discharge seen clearly.

12 seconds later the outdated Dreadnought Pillars strength was halfway gutted by a six-hundred Ton Ferret Tungsten slug. The following fourth and final MAC round fired in the battle annihilated the rest of the vessels working remains.

Of the outdated larger Batarian vessels there were no survivors.

* * *

The Dawn Continued forward at an intense pace, coming in range of the Nimble Batarian Frigates before the three smaller vessels could alter their vectors and flee. Without any farther ado, the Dawn unleashed three lightly energy shielded archer missiles and wrapped up the entire engagement.

Meanwhile, on the Bridge of the Rebuilt Vessel, Cortana's avatar was calmly telling Sadie and Laura that the battle was over. However, internally the AI was cackling madly and jumping about her cyberspace like a child on a sugar high. Her favorite toy had performed beyond expectations, her tweaks and calibrations had even increased its ammo's traveling rate from thirty kilometers per second to thirty-three per second.

Not much of an increase but it added a lot more to the impact damage of each shell. She had also cut the reload and recharge rate down by a small margin… not by much but she would take what she could get.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Laura were now doing an impromptu victory jig on the bridge and Cortana was now finding their apparent lack of talent in that field rather amusing.

After ensuring all enemy vessels were destroyed entirely, Cortana continued the Dawn's charted course towards the nearest planet, they would slingshot around the Elcor colony planet Thunawanuro and head back to Logasiri to assist BT-7274 with orbital support as well as the Titan's eventual exfil.

There were currently no other vessel's in orbit of Thunawanuro and the Elcor on the ground of the high gravity world would have few delicate instruments outside of element zero sensors due to the high gravity and thick atmosphere.

all was going according to plan.

* * *

Brumius was tired, not just in body but also in soul. He had lived his entire life here in the slave worked mining pits on Logasiri, he was a slave, therefore, he had no last name, no clan, no family left and little to live for. The Turian was supposed to be at the prime of his life yet he did not look or feel the part.

This place he called home was hell, just that day three more of his fellow slaves had been shot as an example to those who would consider attempting any form of disobedience.

Their crime? Working until their portion of the mines dried up of resources to extract, instead of being assigned to another tunnel the masters had seen the lack of resources coming from their section and turned a deaf ear to their pleas.

They had been executed in brutal manners before a bunch of the younger and newest workers as an example. It had terrified and broken the hearts and wills of the younger group, as was the farce of a trial's purpose to begin with. Those three had been old, they were no longer needed so the masters made their planned deaths meet their needs… sending a clear message: You live and exist to serve us… nothing more, nothing less.

That message had been taken to heart by the quietly crying and now quiet young ones, the youngest of them being only eleven years. Now the mixed group of enslaved species were trudging back to one of the domed facilities on the planet, one of the larger ones at that.

The forced march was approaching its end as they drew near to the two and a half story tall airlock, only a mile or so out from arrival. One of the younger new hands was staring intently at the sky as the overseers allowed them to slow their pace to a walk, the young Salarian nearly drew the attention of the overseers Electra-whip when he made a startled exclamation about falling stars.

Brumius looked up and saw the glowing lights fall from the sky, only to make landfall beyond a ridge in the far distance, his suppressed curiosity couldn't help noting that meteorites don't fall in formation… his survival sense, however, didn't consider it his business to begin with.

He needed to focus on staying alive in this miserable existence until he was too old, and the masters decided to kill him too. He had heard the whispers among non-born slaves about the wider galaxy, but Brumius knew that this citadel council he kept hearing about would never save them or even care about them… they hadn't in the past so why now? These falling stars were probably the work of the masters in the mighty Hegemony.

As they approached the domed facility's airlock entrance the Turian slave couldn't help but notice the Overseers growing uneasy after trying to call ahead to announce their arrival with no response being received.

They were approaching the large closed airlock doors when it happened, it began with a loud noise!

" _ **CRACK!"**_

Which was immediately followed by two of the overseers in charge of Brumius's group losing the entire upper half of their Bodies as a high velocity gauss round tore their aligned torsos into a fine bloody mist, this was repeated with another guard being obliterated by a very loud weapon with little to no vapor trail for one to trace to its location.

It didn't stop a few of the now very wary Batarians from trying to find it though. Spreading out to either side of the road, they jumped behind cover whilst Brumius and his fellow slaves were forced to cower on their bellies in the middle of the road, any attempts at running would've gotten them all shot in the back by their overseer guards.

'Spirits! What is happening!? We are caught between a rock and a hard place here… if the attackers shoot at us then were dead, if we move to seek cover we will be killed by the masters, maybe…' The Turian's thoughts were cut short by the sound of loud booming steps approaching them at a rapid sounding pace, Brumius's eyes soon beheld a terrifying sight he would not soon forget…

A massive battle mech, putting a YMIR heavy mech to utter and total shame was sprinting towards them across the lifeless field of dirt and rocks to their right… Bromius could scarce believe his eyes, Sprinting! Machines that size should not be capable of doing that. Aside from its unbelievable balancing and movement capabilities the very large machine was sporting a single optic and looked to be holding a weapon in its huge metal hands.

It sprinted up to the overseers on the right side of the road and began its assault by tactfully stepping on one. It then shouldered its weapon and twin rotary barrels shot dual streams of devastating rounds towards its chosen targets, with this weapon the machine killed all the Overseers in a matter of seconds!

Having killed the Overseers, the Machine stopped firing and glanced about the area before lowering its weapon as it turned to face the slaves who lay on the road.

Brumius slowly stood up, if he was to die here than he would not die cowering like a scared Pyjack. However much to the Turian's shock, the machine pointed to the Overseers weapons that lay upon the ground by their bullet pierced corpses.

It then spoke in synthesized Turian, "This unit's current combat mission is the liberation of Logasiri from the Batarian Hegemony, supplies of oxygen, water and food have been dropped planet-side." It said while pointing towards where the grouping of stars had landed not long ago.

"Arm yourselves and secure the supply cache, this Unit will compromise key domed facilities within the area, once hegemony forces are annihilated at these locations an uprising of the slave populace will be successful. You will safeguard one of the supply caches that have made landfall, once it is secured send a messenger to that domed facility." It said, gesturing to the nearby large glass domed structure.

"It has already been cleared of all hostile combatants." With that message delivered the machine sprinted off into distance disappearing around a rise in the nearby landscape. Brumius could only stare in shocked surprise at this turn of events, he didn't even really believe it until he turned and saw the destroyed anti-infantry turrets at the Facility vehicle airlock entrance as well as the shattered Batarian wreck of a light assault vehicle that lay nearby… he didn't know how they missed noticing these things when they had been approaching the Facility to begin with.

Walking over to the overseer who had initially been stepped on by that… thing, Brumius stared down at the dead slaver's weapon, a weapon that had killed his fellow slaves and kept him and the rest who were yet living in a perpetual state of fear and submission.

Reaching down he picked up the assault rifle and slowly looked it over before adjusting his hold to what his sire had taught him in secret when Brumius was just a mere child. For the first time in years, the Turian felt something he thought he would never feel again…

He felt hope.

Stepping over to another corpse he grabbed a shotgun and tossed it over towards the now recovering group of former slaves, a young Drell lad fumbled with the weapon for but a moment before getting a firm grip and shouldering it.

Looking at his longtime companions and friends Brumius dredged up all the remembrances of their suffering and the ones they had lost to their so-called Batarian masters, he brought forth all the cold righteous rage he had stored for a day such as this… though he had never thought that this day would arrive.

He never thought they would have even the sliver of a chance at successfully attaining their freedom, he would take the leap of faith and trust the Machine that had just decimated their long-time persecutors… and if the supplies were indeed where the machine had pointed towards then all the better, the first thing the Batarians would do is crack down on all Oxygen distributors, one couldn't use a breather without an air tank and rebreathers were not given to slaves.

Logasiri was not livable without a breather mask… unless you were Vorcha or perchance a Krogan.

Clearing his thought and gesturing to the other dead overseers scattered about he spoke to his companions, "Gather anything of value, weapons, masks, heat sinks, air tanks, boots, etc. and then equip yourselves as needed, leave what we don't need…

"Today we rise and strike back at our former masters, we will gain our freedom so that the deaths and sacrifices of those who are no longer with us have not been made in vain, we will fight! I do not know what that thing was, only that it was on our side and saw fit to free us from the Overseers… if what it said holds true than we stand a chance at defeating the Hegemony on this Planet, they would not be able to stop us by depriving us of oxygen if we have our own source."

"we will rise, we will fight, and we shall do so for our fallen brethren," Brumius stated this with a no-nonsense clear and strict voice, he was pleased to see that his pep-talk had had some effect on his audience by the surprisingly loud reply to his talk's ending statement.

It would become a rallying cry throughout the entirety of the Logasiri revolution.

" **For the Fallen and For Our Freedom!** "

* * *

The Hulking Titan made of metal and circuitry, as well as being the bearer of several devices that spewed metallic gifts both big and small for its enemies' short lived enjoyment, was currently fleeing a group of gunships.

Said flying vehicles were all that remained of the Batarian Rapid Deployment Slave Suppression Force, BT-7274's first priority target and the only group that could stop a slave revolution before it even got started. The Frontier militia Titan had attacked their base Facility after clearing the first two glass domed structures used as mass slave living quarters, the Batarian R.D.S.S.F was the only force on the planet capable of quickly finding and neutralizing the drop pod supply caches of air, water and food supplies critical to a slave uprising's success.

The mech had breached the weak perimeter defenses of the facility and smashed open its airlock, killing the majority of the R.D.S.S.F's troops by the sudden lack of breathable oxygen. Those that had survived via breathing devices had fled into the aircraft hangar and loaded themselves onto four gunships, they had fired missiles on the titan who had been forced to retreat at a rapid pace to avoid critical damages if such an attack was successful.

BT-7274 had fled to a nearby field that had large boulders the size of houses scattered about, and a deadly game of real life Pac-man had begun, the gunships flying low over the boulder-strewn field in search of the metal monstrosity that moved deftly about within said field's confines.

The hunters became the hunted when a gunship came upon the Mech's position, only to die by a gauss round to a wing followed with being shredded by AP dual rotary gunfire on its short trip to the ground after the gauss cannon had evicted the vessel from the heavens.

The gunship's sister vessels converged on the location only to discover themselves on the wrong end of a terrifying tool the Machine brought from its home dimensional universe…

 **Deploying available anti-air countermeasure:**

 **Acquiring Target lock.**

 **Target lock confirmed: targets acquired.**

 **Firing.**

Two appendages with a box at the tip unfolded from the mechs back and unleashed their payloads on the three remaining gunships, the vessels never stood a chance. Though tried to flee and deploy countermeasures to avoid the attack they were far too late to achieve this goal.

One by one the gunships fell prey to the locked-on missile barrage, with three loud explosions they ceased to exist as gunships and began a new life as scrap metal fragments.

The Titan checked for any surviving hostiles and found none remaining in the area. The machine's next goal was to locate and liberate the nearest populated slave facilities and give them the info and location of the R.D.S.S.F's now lifeless base of operations.

The remaining supplies and light combat vehicles and aircraft would prove critical to the slave uprising the Titan had incited on the planet. BT's job was to enable a full-scale revolution to be successful, the Titan would not be guiding or organizing the movement. That would happen by those left in the Mech's wake after they had been liberated.

The revolution had begun and was just starting to gain momentum. The ex-slave forces had already captured a small facility while BT had cleared yet another of the large ones, getting in without compromising the structures atmosphere was tricky.

Once the slave uprising had control of the anti-ship defenses planet-side the Titan would head for ex-fil. The goal was to enable a revolution to occur and succeed against the slavers, the Mech was not meant to be that revolution, only the match that lit it.

The continuation and success of this effort would rely on the slaves that were willing to fight, they would need to band together and defeat the slow to respond Batarian forces located around the planet. however, with BT having landed at the main mining hub and spaceport facility cluster to begin the liberation of Logasiri, the young uprising would find the most defensible place on the planet its new headquarters.

Couple that with the annihilation of just over half of the active and alert enforcer Hegemony troops, the planetary defense system's controls eventually slaved to resistance headquarters, the supplies left by the now exterminated R.D.S.S.F. and the revolution's success was suddenly a matter of when they would win, rather than if they would even get on their feet to begin with.

Now all the newly up-risen slaves needed to do was realize this fact, they were still disorganized and lacking in numbers, not to mention a lack of communication and supplies. Unless a leader stepped up to inspire them than this whole effort would be for nothing, once a leader took command then BT would give the coordinates to the orbital defense systems control station.

With the defenses held by the planet's new liberators, the enemy re-enforcements that would arrive in the system some weeks later would be unable to land on the planet while the slave revolution cleaned up any leftover ground side enemies.

Once the hegemony lost all forces on the planet, the former slaves could declare the planet no longer of Batarian ownership or management. The council would turn a blind eye to the events taking place in the terminus, as would most others, however, Aria T'Loak and the Batarian Hegemony would take great interest in new future events.

* * *

In the dark and waste-filled passages of the Station known as Omega, shadows walked the passages and alleyways. Some were small others were big, but all were shadows. Some were prey too good at hiding, most were predators and it was the afore-mentioned prey and weaker predators they were stalking. Out of these figures, a select few were wisely being both predator and expertly evasive prey. But two, two different creatures in this sector of Omega were different from all the others.

One was a man who had faced and defied both gods and demons, an unknown legendary soldier. A hero to billions of souls that didn't exist in the dimension he didst find himself in now. Carrying a tragic past yet giving himself not an ounce of self-pity the Spartan carried on, his purpose to one-day return home.

Confidently and silently; the large cloaked figure maneuvered the crowds of Omega easily fading in and out of sight amongst the occasional alleyway entrances. His steps were silent, his cloak all concealing, and his presence masked from all whom he passed by.

Just as he wanted to be perceived, by not being noticedto begin with.

* * *

The other creature was hundreds of years old, an addict who was skilled in emotional manipulation and in the unique way her people fought. Her addiction was a horrid thing in the eyes of others, even most of her own kind despised it, a group of which she was the most powerful... and most arrogant.

Her addiction had led to the death of hundreds, each one a small boost in her power and control with her biotics, each one added to the urge's power… and slowly all other purposes in life had faded away until only the want for power was there, the need that buzzed at the back of her mind hungering for another victim.

Another fly caught in the luring ointment, only for the attractive oil to snuff out its puny life. She had killed at least one of every species, and now she was looking at adding another life to be snuffed out, snuffed by a dose of death-dealing pleasure that came from a meld with an Ardat-Yakshi.

This alpha predator's name was Morinth and she was the most powerful known Ardat-Yakshi, Ardat-Yakshi are an Asari genetic issue that caused any meld attempt with another soul to kill the non-Ardat-Yakshi of the pair. This was immensely pleasurable, and every victim caused the Ardat-Yakshi to crave even more.

Morinth had killed many, many souls. And now she was stalking another. The young human woman's name was Nef, an interesting introvert and aspiring young artist, the girl had caught Morinth's attention and Morinth thought it was time to make her move.

She was about to make her pass and invite Nef to go get skewers at the other side of the VIP afterlife club, the access of which had been happily provided by her previous victim. He was the first kill of her current stay on Omega and the Krogan had even given her a statue in his hopes to please her, after all her very aura and presence commanded all weak-minded beings to bend to her will and worship her in hopes of pleasing her.

Those that gained her attention had the great destiny of dying in utter ecstasy, they're last moments so pleasurable that they're very brains hemorrhaged as their minds broke and ceased to think. With every new person that she gave this to die for experience to Morinth would gain a small portion of power. Now at almost four-hundred and fifty years old, she had reached the ability of a matriarch over twice her age.

She had dominated the minds of a small village once, demanding to be worshipped as a goddess and the population's daughters as willing and eager sacrifices. That sprint of fun had ended with the arrival of her mother who had sworn to kill her, Morinth had ordered the Villagers to attack the Asari Justicar which led to all but the youngest children of the village to be killed… and even some of those younglings had been killed by Morinth's meld before she had fled, they had been begging for her to do it after all.

Her ability to sense the nervous system and aura of those around her had saved the rogue Ardat-Yakshi many a time from Justicars as well as other hunters of her kind, the Collectors had even put a bounty on her head once.

The Asari serial killer was about to step out of her dark corner in the VIP lounge and approach Nef when she sensed it. It was muted, suppressed by either willpower or armor or both, but it was still there. Just on the edge of her awareness, a being of incredible power and utter mental self-control. She lost all sense of those in her immediate presence as she attempted to locate where she sensed this presence from… this was a far more dangerous being than any other she had encountered, she could tell.

She didn't even notice when Nef walked by her location without noticing her, the young woman leaving the dance floor and heading to the exit, the stares of other patrons having unnerved her. No, Morinth was far too focused on sensing this presence's location her eyes becoming black orbs as she focused her sensing abilities, she had learned it was not in the after-life club, but it was in this sector of Omega.

It was like a beacon, far outside her normal sensing range but close enough that she could still catch a whiff of its presence. Morinth stood from her table and exited the After-life VIP Lounge, searching for this alluring presence, she had turned down a nearby alleyway when the distant Beacon flared into a veritable sun with such a presence that the Ardat-Yakshi who's eyes were still black orbs was ensnared by her own power, unable to cut her now tuned in powers from turning off as she felt a far off nervous system like no other she had sensed before, its fluctuations so rapid that it caused her to begin feeling pleasure from the sensing of it alone.

The powerful Ardat-Yakshi could do nothing as the far-off nervous system fluctuated even faster and the serial killer gasped as her entire being was flooded with pain, pleasure, anger, serenity… her every single emotion was looped on a slow building increase, her body glowed blue with biotic power as she began to float upward and with a scream that made her throat hoarse Morinth sensed the source of her pleasure and suffering snuff out like a candle put under a bushel, without farther ado she expelled a blast of biotic power, fell to the ground and blacked out.

She awoke to find herself sprawled out on the ground in the alleyway, her clothes ruined, mere tatters from her biotic discharge, the walls on either side of the alley had caved inwards by her uncontrollable biotic repulse. She was in minor shock that she had sensed such a thing… she had no clue as to what the creature she had sensed was.

But she knew that she would have it, and if it survived her meld as she suspected it would, then she would keep it as her personal slave and meld with it as much as she possibly could, its very presence was addictive to her.

She was Ardat-Yakshi, only the most powerful of minds and nervous systems were fit to meld with her, the rest of the population just didn't satisfy her thirst. But this thing, whatever it was, would give her power enough to outdo the matriarchs.

She would have it… She. Would. Have. Him!

So, it was, that the Alpha Predator sensed the Veteran Guardian… and wanted him. She would soon find that the feeling was Not mutual. But for now, she would have to track this unknown presence down…

Thus, the hunt had begun.

* * *

The Unique Geth Platform had been motionless for a long while, in that time it had highjacked the transmissions of the Human forces aboard the old Machine. The Geth Platform had stood vigilant and acquired much valuable information.

First and foremost was the fact that, apparently, this Old Machine was not the Leviathan of Dis. No, this was a different Old One, a corrupter that now eternally slept in its death throes… "forever dreaming" as the most recent human transmissions began to say.

Which lead to the second valuable fact, the humans foolishly exposing themselves to a dead god's influence were now reaping the rewards of such unsafe actions, their indoctrination was in its latter stages. Soon they would willingly lay down upon the dragon's teeth spikes and willingly turn themselves into husks in service of their dreaming master.

The Geth unit did not fear Indoctrination in the form used to affect organics, it was Geth; it was synthetic. What the Geth feared was subtle hacking and edits to their code, and with this Old Machine incapable of higher thought, the Geth platform would have naught to fear in terms of a hostile AI takeover.

Its wait would not needs be much longer, the Cerberus Humans would soon be gone, having been replaced by mindless enemy husks.

When that occurred, it would begin its planned lengthy exploration of the vessel.

It was tempted to log back into the Geth network, but a quick consensus decided that the Blue Lady was still causing trouble, the Collective had determined that she was testing them, studying them.

A spare few of the smarter programs put forth the possibility of her actually preparing them.

The Old Machines were coming soon, her time of appearance was indeed odd. No, the local platform's consensus decided against connecting to the network at this time, it did not want to be distracted by her antics.

* * *

(Note)

End of Chapter 15. I was going to have a bit more, but it's late and I leave tomorrow for Navy basic. You'll just have to see what happens to Tali and the situation at the Collector base next chapter… that won't be until I'm done with my training...

In the meantime, there is a New Fanfiction that has been recently published, it is a mass effect and halo crossover and is featuring an original plot mixed with an epic feeling of mystery whose aura just draws you into the story and leaves you begging for the next chapter. I Highly Recommend it! It's called "The Lost Civilization," and is written by fellow fanfiction author "Apollonir." you can find it on my author's page in the list of my favorite stories! what are you waiting for?! go take a look!

UNTIL NEXT TIME! THIS GABENATOR5 SIGNING OFF.


	16. Chapter 16

(Note)

" **I HAVE RETURNED!" -broadcasted over the radio by General Douglas MacArthur, upon his landing in the Philippines.**

I do not own Mass Effect or the Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these universes respectively belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment, and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Akron Khaspahal stared at the viewing screens of his meager command center. When the communications attack had occurred, he had the devices shut off and then isolated to a closed network, wiped, rebooted and partially reprogramed. This had taken just over forty-eight hours to complete and the Batarian General had found himself cut off from the rest of the planet's garrison. His four gleaming black eyes held a calculating gleam of a lifetime's worth of combat experience as he pondered the situation he was now in. He had mobilized his district's military garrison as soon as communications had gone to hell, ordering the power to be shut down on non-essential devices rather than let the pillars damned documentary distract his personnel from doing their duties.

It was the ones like General Akron who ensured the Hegemony's continued existence, trained and true veterans of war and rebel uprisings, Batarians such as Akron were spread thin throughout the Hegemony.

But they were not to be underestimated, Akron and the few that shared his experience were not given key positions in the Batarian military without good reason. Akron had been through hell, his blinding high-caste bred pride and superior than thou attitude had been destroyed in his first years of military service.

There were some warlords in the terminus who were worse than any slaver, and Akron had the distinct displeasure of having fought more than a few of them. He had learned that while Batarians were a superior species, any lesser creature could still easily kill you. Akron had learned that relying on firepower and undying patriotism to win all your battles was not always a wise way to win a conflict.

The old Batarian had watched as the new generation of the Hegemony's military had entered service, Young pups who were given excellent gear and not enough formal training, officer positions which were mostly used by political families to earn power and fame as well as occasionally hide one's shame.

But Akron had remained in the background, his experience passed down to his followers. His disgust of the new politicians in an officer's uniform had earned him a post on the smallest and most backwater of Logasiri's district territories. It had no strategic value other than the small robotic operated freshwater producing facilities, the water that they produced being piped directly to the mines and enviro-domes that needed them.

Now that his command center was back online (mostly) the Batarian General reviewed what information he had on the situation. Sensors on closed circuits had detected objects approaching orbit, they had impacted in the main districts.

The Main districts held the majority of the Planet's populace, and facilities… Akron was only in command of a small garrison, overseeing the mountain mining facilities that provided water and raw materials for building more Habitat domes.

Pulled from his thoughts by a courier with a data packet, Akron walked to the old holo-table in the middle of his makeshift command center and plugged the data packet into the table's computer. He had ordered his few tech specialists to find any important data on the objects that impacted right after the communications blackout… and it seems they had indeed found something.

Upon review Akron saw the packet held all the sorted available data on the unknown objects, the old Batarian skipped the numbers portion and went straight to what his tech specialists had flagged as priority information for his eyes only.

What he saw angered him greatly… it seemed that all the objects fell in a synched formation and entered the atmosphere in such a way as to survive the hard landing while remaining intact. A terminus faction had finally cracked the problems involved with drop orbital insertion and he was not pleased by their success.

Scrolling to the last piece of data General Akron opened an image file, it was taken by an older deep space telescope located among the mountain peaks. The telescope in question was not linked to a network but was in the private ownership of a Batarian official, a hobbyist at that.

Akron was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, this file was labeled as the most important of the whole data packet. Opening it the General stared at an image of an object that was different than the others in the process of entering the atmosphere, its underside and protruding edges were bathed in fire. The object was but an armored egg, with open gaps in its upper shell closest to the stars that it was leaving behind for the planet below.

through those gaps, Akron saw the outlined bits of something that was possibly huge in stature, and in the middle most gap was one glowing eye seemingly staring back. Akron felt his fist clench in anger, storing his rage aside to fuel his focus on the task at hand. The old Batarian General let one word leave his clenched pointed teeth, a word that made all those in hearing give pause.

"Geth."

* * *

The Spartan ghosted through the alleys of Omega, there was no other way to describe it. He was not heard, he was not seen. His presence eluded all those that traversed the shadows about his person, his objective lay ahead.

The main data hub for Omega, located below the club known as Afterlife. A powerful thing clenched tightly in the grasp of Omega's self-styled Queen. Information and communication from the terminus warlords and their contacts on Omega flowed as water through this central hub, and with it tapped the things that council races failed to keep tabs on would become known to the Spartan and his digital partner.

The web would be woven and any threats that tweaked its strings would not go un-ignored, the Spartan knew that his AI companion believed she would face a future war of wills against a massive AI threat. This web would give her greater chances of defeating digital foes quickly and efficiently, a form of digital sniping in effect. The less contact made with the enemy the less they could learn of her… that was to be an advantage.

He would see to it.

Making his way past Aria T'Loaks guard patrols the Spartan entered the data hub, it was a bit larger than an apartment building. Making his way to the main console He then traced the main data wire from the console to the wall, upon finding the ideal location the Chief cut a section of the wall away and with great care placed the device.

Once receiving confirmation that the installation was successful the Chief left the facility… with naught a sign of ever being there, to begin with.

The Spartan was leaving the Afterlife district in order to return to his ship when he paused at the sound of his helmets HUD updating with a message, it was in the form of a text file.

 _From: CTN 0452-9_

 _To: S-117_

 _New development, it's a rescue scenario. Quarian VIP hostage is present on Omega. A faction of the blood pack visiting Omega has the grandnephew of a Quarian admiral in their custody, having contact with certain Quarians in the migrant fleet could benefit our future operations greatly. They are the only faction that I predict to not attempt to strongarm us or broadcast our existence to the rest of the galaxy once they realize that we exist. As to how much about us they learn… we can set that parameter after you rescue the VIP. Stand by for more information, it may take a few minutes. The Blood Pack comms are chatty, but it seems the intelligence of most of those chatting is negligible._

 _P.S: future relations with the Quarians have a high chance of being mutually beneficial so don't give me that look Chief, we would have had to make actual peaceful contact with some form of the locals at some point, better to do it at our discretion than theirs._

Upon reading the message, the brown cloaked armored figure halted his current course of travel whilst fading into the background of Omega's alleys.

he would wait as instructed.

* * *

"This meeting is long overdue and should have been conducted immediately after the event we are here to discuss had occurred." The Turian Primarch stared out at the other occupants of the sparse conference room, all of whom were fellow Turians of mighty standing and power.

"We are gathered to discuss the events that both preluded and concluded to what is now called the Prexamia event. General Victus you requested this meeting, you now have the floor." The Primarch gestured to a Turian with white facial markings sitting at the other end of the table, with a nod Victus rose to speak.

"It began with several pirate bases and staging areas turning up with all their occupants' dead bar the slaves and hostages, whoever did this feat, wanted their work to be found and left a beacon queued to our patrol frequencies for us to find." The Primarch watched the general speak with one eye, taking in the words and facial cues while keeping the other eye on the mood of the rest of the room.

Many Turians were actively listening with neutral faces, while some of the more traditionalists were glaring daggers at Victus. The Primarch knew that Adrian Victus faced discrimination due to his revolutionary tactics on the battlefield, with his breaking away from traditions to better defeat one's enemy he was the target of much scrutiny by the traditional-leaning Turian leadership. General Adrian Victus being the first to propose this meeting was the main reason its occurrence was so long delayed, some of the older generals despised him.

'He will make an excellent replacement once I retire' the Primarch thought rather smugly. No one but his most trusted advisors knew that Adrian Victus was the Primarch's favored successor. The Primarch intended to keep it that way lest assassins start knocking on the young General's door. For he was not so naïve as to think that there were not some in the Turian hierarchy who bore no honor or were misguided. Those such as Saren Arterius were a constant reminder of this. Wrenching his mind back on track the Primarch returned his full attention to General Victus and his presentation. It seemed the General had brought forth the viral video that had swept the extranet after the event, Victus labeled it as questionable evidence whilst also stating it had not been proven a hoax tourist scam yet and could thus not be simply discarded as false. After the video had played, Victus continued his presentation.

"Our intelligence division has had a very difficult time scrapping together information on this unknown faction in the terminus systems, we also have reason to believe that the Salarian special task group has little more information than we do." Victus paused to meet all eyes in the room with his own. "This is concerning."

"What we do know for fact, is that whatever faction is successfully completing these operations has alternative weapons technologies and advanced Nuclear strike capability. At least a dozen special ground operatives of unknown origin and if they are robotic in nature as the Reports of the Late Commander Shepard claim, then they are of an advanced design a magnitude above our own."

"This group has multiple ships as was showcased in their halting of the Batarian backed tri-pronged Attempt at another Skyllian Blitz, in which they used a nuclear warhead to obliterate one of the pirate's three colony assault forces. Spirits know the Systems Alliance tried to cover that up from the general public, but our response patrol groups got the signatures on the radiation field and that thing detonated with enough force to send a pair of dreadnoughts on a one-way ticket to the scrapyard."

"The Human's intelligence agencies are too busy dealing with the rogue group Cerberus to focus too much on the situation at their farthest borders, and the few human groups investigating have found nothing more than we have… they have been very open with us on this."

"it is my opinion that we step up patrols and begin the design of action plans to deal with this new faction if or when they decide to engage us either in communication or combat. Rogue Salarian scientists gone mad with new avenues of technology, some special Branch of Cerberus or even a new form of the Geth. We must nonetheless prepare to face this possible foe and hold our place as the current and foremost peacekeeping force of this galaxy."

With his part said the General returned to his seat, upon which the Primarch again stood and spoke to those assembled.

"All in favor of increased patrols and implementing protocols in case of contact with this new faction?" surprisingly nearly every head at the table nodded, it seems Adrien Victus had learned how to sway the stubborn with his words after all. Even the most bitter political opponents could sometimes see their enemies wisdom it seemed.

'yes, he will be perfect for my role' with that thought the Primarch commenced the open forum portion of the conference.

"The motion is carried, any suggestions for the new protocols?" a dozen hands went up, and the Primarch internally smirked at the eagerness of the youngest officers' present at the meeting.

"very well, let us begin."

And with those words, the beginnings of a groundwork were laid for a bevy of eyes to search the stars for what they did not yet understand.

* * *

Within the Collector Base work on the latest duo of monstrosities was taking place at an accelerated rate, the collectors and machines carrying out their present purpose like the ticking gears of a twisted clock. A horrid show of mindless puppets tied to the strings of their ancient master, a master that had spent millennia carrying out its same task over and over repeatedly.

For the masters were only mere puppets to another, not that the collectors were able to care about that little fact. They only knew what was required to build the newest of the great hoard, the latest of their masters' forms. The humans it seemed were only replacing what they had destroyed, and they were paying twofold.

For within the large hangars of the base two new reapers took shape. One was the basic model of an average reaper capital ship, the other one of Harbinger's pet projects. Harbinger had a nasty obsession with creating new vessels in the twisted forms of the species they had been made with, and every few cycles the oldest master would find a race that piqued its interest. If they became an annoyance they earned the right of one of the Reapers made from their flesh being constructed in a twisted image of their race, an image of Harbingers own making.

Of the two the normal looking reaper was nearly completed, while the twisted vision of the human-shaped monstrosity was only partially constructed. Its support structure mostly completed but not yet filled out.

Within the final phases of construction within the nearly completed reaper made of metal and repurposed flesh something was occurring that was not according to the master's pans. The proper reaper coding had not even been installed on the mass of brain matter and cybernetics, yet a network was forming. Sprinkled throughout the future Reaper's mind connections were forming. The mindless workers paid no heed to the synapses coming to life and firing off electric signals to each other in a rapid yet uncoordinated way.

Within the matter, tiny bits of something that should not have been there continued to carry out the same purpose that it served when living, and with a steady pace continued to meld the broken bits and pieces of intermixed grey and white brain matter into a network of sorts. This micro process happened in tandem with many other identical occurrences.

Dendrites and axons of the white matter became the interwoven web of pathways that neurons within the gray matter sent their pulses through, slowly a collection of different networks became active within the patches of active matter intermixed with the still inert material around it.

For a time, nothing else occurred, a few of the smaller occurrences even broke apart. But then two of the larger anomalies became linked by a newly formed occurrence and all three separate pieces became in sync as if it was one larger anomaly.

Then it happened again…

And again…

And again…

And within this growing process, something new began to take shape.

* * *

STG operative Joworth read over the reports before bringing them to the Dalatrass, all in all, Joworth could only conclude that it was indeed strange times he lived in.

A new faction in the terminus, the Turians finally taking official notice of it. A cyber-attack on the Batarian hegemony of such large proportions that it's like was unheard of in known council history, not to mention the sheer amount of money that had been shifting hands to the anti-slaver faction within the hegemony. And out of the slow recovery of the Batarian Hegemony's systems, the world Logasari was still dark.

Now as for the cyber attack the STG had dodged a mass effect round in Joworth's opinion. Most of the spy systems tied into the hegemony's network had been compromised, the only thing saving the systems on their side of the connection was a built-in failsafe that had terminated the connection when the cyber-attack software was in mid transit.

Even so, the portion of code that had been downloaded was still volatile, whoever wrote it was extraordinarily paranoid. The fact that only systems that were disconnected from the Batarian network and required manual input of data by an infiltrating agent was not lost on the STG leadership.

It seems many more operatives would be behind the lines in the future.

Without farther ado, Joworth handed over the reports to the Dalatrass and quietly stood by for further orders, which she was quick to deliver upon her review of the data pads. Transmitting straight to her omni-tool was considered a security risk after the cyber prowess of whoever temporarily crippled the Batarian Hegemony had come to light.

"Study the partial coding we intercepted extensively, make sure that it is on a closed network." She paused to think farther on matters that Joworth could only guess at, then she apparently came to a decision.

"Notify the Hierarchy of the cyber event and the possibility that this is tied to the faction they have decided to keep their eyes on the lookout for. Make sure our agents in the field attempting to find out information on this group's origins double their efforts, months with nothing new to add is very troubling." She exhaled a long sigh and a longsuffering yet amused look was in her eyes.

"Tell my young nephew to stop theorizing it's a new hyper advanced race meddling for fun, we will not assume so until evidence is provided that undeniably proves they are not of a known species." A frustrated look fell over her expression.

"I want a definite time on when we will once again begin to use our omni-tools to transmit sensitive data. This communications lockdown while warranted and necessary, is slowing us down and rather inconvenient in its entirety." She picked up and reread the final data pad, it contained a theory that the money shifting hands to the anti-slavers and logasari remaining dark were not a coincident.

Joworth himself had written this one.

"Lastly, I want eyes on Logasari, we may have abandoned its listening outpost temporally due to our need to focus on Omega, but I want eyes on it as soon as possible… it may indeed be a key piece to this very odd puzzle we are attempting to put together." With her directives said, Joworth politely gave his reply as he always had done.

"it shall be done Dalatrass."

And with that, he departed.

* * *

Zof'Raan vas Vaedoruk was terrified, traumatized and very much in horror about the recent events his life had led him through. Zof was barely the age required to leave his environmentally controlled sterile ball and had only been in a temporary bulky suite for his transit from his late father's scouting cruiser the Vaedoruk to his great-aunt Shala'Raan vas TonBay in the migrant fleet.

The Vaedoruk had suffered a very bad viral outbreak and the children still in their environmentally regulated disease resisting rollers had been evacuated to be taken to the migrant fleet. His Great Aunt Shala had been the one to grant this, his Fathers last request before Kof'Raan Vas Vaedoruk had passed from the living to join with Zof'Raan's recently departed mother.

She had been one of the first causalities.

The small cargo vessel had arrived and prepared to docked not long after that, the remaining adults that weren't yet sick or dying had spent many agonizing hours making every attempt to ensure that no hint of the viral plague would be taken by the young ones back to the fleet.

They had the eldest of the children help the younger into temporary enviro-suites that made them look like a fat and very short Volus. They had moved them into the last uncontaminated room on the ship to do this and when all the young were properly equipped they then drained it of atmosphere, leaving the children on their ten minutes of suit regulated oxygen. Then the small cargo vessel had cut away the hull into the room and brought them aboard.

It was supposed to be a safe and quiet trip after that, and it had been… at first, that is.

But there had been an impact and the whole ship had shaken as if it were falling to pieces, the hatches had been blown open and a few Vorcha with two Krogan had stormed in.

The four adults had held them back, forcing the attackers into cover… but then **IT** had entered.

Guns didn't harm **IT** , Grenades didn't harm **IT** , nothing they had could hurt **IT** … everything they had only made **IT** angrier. **IT** killed the adults slowly, letting them scream and shoot fruitlessly while **IT** crushed them under its weight. **IT** would start at the legs and then slowly break the rest of the body before picking up the adult Quarians like broken ragdolls and sticking their heads into **IT's** tooth-filled maw.

Zof"Raan didn't think he would ever escape the nightmares that THING had induced. For **IT** had bit the adult's heads off one by one, killing all four of them while swallowing their heads, enviro-suits helmet, and all whole.

 **IT** had turned towards them next but the pair of Krogan had come out of cover and activated the collar device that **IT** wore around its neck, after that **IT** had dragged the broken headless corpses of the Children's would be caretakers back through the airlock.

The Krogan commenting on what was to be the fate of the remains of those four had caused more than one terrified child to lose consciousness due to fear if they hadn't already done so.

The Krogans had then mercilessly grabbed them, as well as whatever Quarian rations that could be found on the small vessel. They then dragged them through the airlock into a cargo bay of the Krogan operated ship and promptly threw them and the rations into a large cargo crate that had naught but containers of water in it, before shutting the door on the crate and locking them into their new prison.

Zof'Raan feared they would be forgotten and would be left to die here in the dark they now faced…

He was partially right, they would be forgotten in a way.

For their captors would soon not be remembering anything.

* * *

From the shadows, he crept… those about him unaware of his power, his very capability… his purpose.

 _From: CTN 0452-9_

 _To: S-117_

The wall of a building he didst scale with barely a sound, brown sheets of thick canvas hiding the sage-green plating beneath, the sturdy cloth flowing in the wind… dancing about in tune with his movements.

 _Updates on the situation are as follows, Quarian tug ship Nokra was attacked and destroyed by Blood Pack, the cargo was Quarian young headed to the migrant fleet due to a virus outbreak on their home, the mining-scout vessel Vaedoruk. The Migrant Fleet is yet undecided on what has occurred, but they know the vessel is late for arrival. The Krogan mercenaries are a part of the Blood Pack that operates outside of Omega. They are docked at the same level of Afterlife, on the far side of the Station near the Blood Pack's main headquarters on Omega._

At the slums by the docking district he seemingly faded into being, a specter of the dark shadows made living… the sixth sense of those who were endowed with the wisdom to continue to live made many who he approached and all he passed to leave the place they had been with unease… though none truly took note of his presence.

Those of foolish nature, unaware of the feeling of danger that filled the air as a fog, simply followed the others leaving… the livestock following the herd.

Such was his presence.

 _The Blood Pack's communications net is all a chatter about the find and recently rumors are flying that the Krogan in charge of the ship and Garm leader of the Blood Pack, are butting heads on whether or not they should sell the younglings to the Batarians or attempt a ransom with the Migrant Fleet._

With deadened steps the tall cloaked figure became known, the brown cloth trappings of his concealment seemed to flap in a wind that was not there.

He was on the unloading docks.

The place was for the most part deserted.

His destination lay directly before him, with a slow even pace he approached the docking arm of the vessel containing his targets.

The guard at its entrance never had a chance, the Vorcha's broken body lay in the cloaked figures wake as he made its way up the slanted incline of the docking tube.

 _They don't know about the VIP, so the leader of the ship wants the Batarian option and Garm wants the Migrant Fleet Ransom. We have a very limited window of opportunity, Quarian young are considered an unheard-of Rarity in Batarian slave markets… the amount of guaranteed wealth alone will sway Garm's mind eventually, it will not be long until he realizes the Quarians do not have the types of resources he will want to demand of them._

After he had disabled the door sensors, the Spartan brute forced the doors open to the docking tube, and the frigates airlock lay across the small passage that was the sealing connector betwixt ship and station.

 _There is a solution to returning the VIP and any other survivors to the Migrant Fleet without us having to ferry them, it will require you to make sure the alarms don't sound, and the ship is intact when your done dealing with the hostiles._

Unable to disable the alarms that would trigger if he brute forced the door due to the needed electronics being inside the ship and not outside it, the Spartan set to work hacking the keypad on the door.

 _There is a Quarian named Kenn on Omega, his reputation is good, and he is trying to find a way back to the Migrant Fleet… and according to Aria's records, I believe he's capable of flying a small frigate for a few days without assistance._

The doors opened, the being entered… the occupants of the ship took extreme notice of this.

Five Vorcha died in the room beyond the Spartans entrance to the ship, a single 12.7x40mm M6D pistol round ending their time among the living.

One krogan and one Vorcha died in the cockpit, two rounds for the Vorcha and an impressive five for the Krogan… Followed by a head-plate cracking and brain-crushing stomp of the Spartan's heavily armored Boot.

Reloading his pistol and reversing his direction of travel, the Spartan cleared the ship room by room, killing another Vorcha in the small eating area and finding no others until he reached the cargo bay.

These foes had time to prepare, the remaining Vorcha were behind cover. The Krogan at the frontmost barricade focusing furiously on his omni-tool. The Vorcha were smart enough to commence firing as soon as the door to the cargo bay opened, the Krogan finishing his task before assisting the Vorcha.

The Chief entered the room with a dash of speed, firing his pistol in rapid but accurate succession, the Vorcha were soon dead and the krogan had been wounded.

Enraged, the Krogan went berserk and attempted to bull-rush the Spartan. The Super Soldier simply took the incoming attack in stride, catching the Krogan and using its own momentum against it to flip and then throw the creature over his shoulder and into the wall.

The stunned Krogan once again became aware of his surroundings only to see a black and green armored boot come down on its face.

Then he knew no more.

The Spartan moved to the crate taking up a corner of the ship's cargo bay, and upon opening it he saw the young cargo it contained all huddled together in a corner. Fearfully staring at him they gripped each other tighter, afraid they would soon face their fate.

In heavily accented khelish the Chief spoke, somewhat alleviating their fears.

" _Safe not is it, your kind free you soon… still, endure this place little time, you must."_

Getting a slow nod from the eldest looking of the younglings, most definitely the leader of the group. The Spartan quickly closed the container and then departed the ship.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Spartan, soon after his departure a large floor panel lifted and slide aside, and **IT** crawled forth from its lair. **IT** looked toward the cargo bay, its sensory organs involved with smell could detect an easy feast… a tempting prey.

But the challenger to **IT** 's domain had left through the portal before **IT** could attack… and its master's final orders were to kill the intruder.

The one that killed its masters would be a challenge… **IT** liked a challenge.

No, **IT** Loved a challenge!

With surprisingly dexterous three-fingered hands the Creature focused its many eyes on the portal before it, the masters had done the same thing many times to open and close this doorway that led to many places.

Emulating the master's came easier than expected and with a sense of self-satisfaction, **IT** slid forth from the ship, exiting the docking tube. Stopping only to snag the broken body of the door guard, it would be a shame to waste such a snack.

Sticking to the shadows **IT** ate its snack while tracking the creature that smelled of metal, a hint of ozone and **IT** 's masters' blood.

The hunt had begun.

* * *

Rises-much flitted and floated about the lab, its newest task outside of monitoring construction efforts was to attempt to influence a micro slip-space portal so as to have its corridor exit in another dimension.

Cortana had thought she had made a possible mathematical breakthrough and wanted a high risk of failure test done in order to gather more information. And test the Huragok would, yes, test indeed.

Already a weapon drop pod had been constructed for testing purposes, its usual contents contained inside it to better increase the variety of data received upon test completion. A camera and sensory/broadcasting system had been mounted to the outside of the pod, and it was ready for the test.

Leaving the room, Rises-much entered the test control center and proceeded to manipulate the events in the testing room from afar. First, the mini-portal was made via the non-mobile slip-space drive-like device in the center of the room.

Then a robotic arm attached to the ceiling picked up the weapons pod and inserted it into the spherical portal before letting it go.

The device recorded a whole of 37 seconds before the paint peeled and was shredded and the camera and sensory suite were sheared off and destroyed.

Pleased with completing its task the Huragok sent the first experiment's results to Cortana.

And then the Floating biological supercomputer was all too gleeful to repeat the process, this time with a different set of portal parameters…

This cycle of weapons pod elimination would continue for a while, after all…

Rises-much had over a hundred pods to expend before the day's testing was to be completed.

* * *

In Kenn's own biased point of view, he was just a simple Quarian. Although he was a tad unique… he believed he was uniquely foolish. Well, more like… He at one point had been uniquely foolish.

There was a reason Quarians rarely ever came to Omega Station.

Kenn had learned that the hard way, everything he had owned save for the suit he wore had been stolen within the first week of his arrival. He had set up a scrap shop to earn enough credits to leave the station, things had actually been looking up until Harrot had gotten involved and forcefully turned Kenn's business into a failing thing that now only re-directed potential customers to Harrot and his emporium.

At least Kenn's second reason for coming to Omega had paid off, his passing of information he overheard to the Migrant Fleet had alerted them to more than a few power shifts here in the Terminus. For it seemed, that as the Citadel was a political center of Citadel space, so was Omega to the Terminus systems.

Kenn was working on a particularly stubborn FBA Coupling he had recently acquired when he sensed something was not quite right.

He felt watched.

Turning towards his Kiosk Kenn froze upon the sight that greeted him, it was as if the master crafted armor of the supposed suit in the viral video that had been making its way through Quarian social circles for nearly a year had simply walked off a screen to say hello.

The things green gauntlets were resting on the makeshift counter next to his kiosk and glimpses of the rest of its armor peeked from several tears in the brown canvas material that enveloped its person and hid its face…

The hood rose to give view to a shadowed interior with only a hint of glimmering gold reflected light to show something was there, the Quarian and the Garbed figure locked gazes and then all hell decided to break loose.

With amazing speed and a whirl of its cloak the figure turned about and dodged an attack before leaping away. Its attacker had appeared from above and seemed to move as a blur, its massive form so quick it was able to snag the green armored beings cape and tear it from his body.

Unveiling the true form of a dark green armored being, its gold vizor glinting in the alley's lights. Its fists raised for combat its stance unflinching, yet wary of this second intruder of Kenn's former privacy.

This attacker terrified Kenn. It was Monstrous, taller than any race he had ever seen, its muscled form was belying of its strength. The eight eyes it bore were black and seemed to glint with malice, Vorcha blood and gore spewed forth in small droplets from its massive tooth-filled maw as it roared a challenge at the green armored being.

And then they clashed, and Kenn could not keep his eyes away from the sight. He was frozen to the spot with shock and awe, for within in forty-five seconds time the pair of combatants had destroyed the far alley wall and engaged in no less than five separate intense close combat sessions.

And they were entering their sixth and most intense spar yet.

The green armored one was fast, controlled and powerful. The monster was also fast, powerful, enraged and big in stature… the creature was simply tanking damage done to it, healing so quickly that small wounds could be seen quickly closing themselves up, seen with the naked eye no less.

With a whirl of speed, it had hereunto not showed itself capable of, the creature struck the armored being full on in the face-plate, the gold visor cracking ominously… the web of hairline fractures spreading from the right side of the armored one's face-plate, stopping a quarter of the way on their journey to the helmet's left side.

With this event, the fight seemed to momentarily pause, the green armored one's posture rigid seemingly with shock.

Only to explode into motion, faster, stronger, deadlier and far more skilled than the larger opponent, the armored figure went on the offensive. The Monsters defense and attacks being redirected in manors that would harm it or bring it to a disadvantage, all while the green armored figures attacks only continued to increase in speed and power.

With a flash, a blade of light appeared, only to be skewered into the monster's muscle hewn hip. The creature roared in rage and pain before in a blur it reached down with its tooth-filled maw and seized the Armored Being by the head, yanking up and twisting suddenly…

Only to have no reward for its efforts, other than the helmet it now had in its mouth.

The helmet was spat to the ground, by the larger creature as the now helmetless armored one withdrew its blade of light and leaped back as if to reassess its opponent's strength.

The monstrous creature was breathing hard, its breath entering and exiting its massive maw in huge gulps… in contrast, the pale-skinned armored figure was barely breathing with difficulty. All Kenn could see of its flesh was the back of its head, its face remained directed towards the monstrous beast who seemed to drink in the appearance of its foe before it would have its fill.

It would not receive the satisfaction it desired.

The armored beings form seemed to almost teleport towards its opponent, the monstrous creature having almost no time to react to the attack, by the time the blow had been intercepted by one of its arms another attack was already closing in.

The loud crack of bones was a prelude to this second strike, the first intercepted attack having done damage after all. Despite itself, the creature flinched at the damage done to its arm… it was its undoing.

The second strike was a slash by the armored one's dual prong blade of bluish-white light, with a crackling buzz of power it severed the already pierced limb from the thigh down from the monstrous being's body.

Before the creature could even react properly and cry out the armored being had removed all of its remaining limbs, brutally disabling its body piece by piece with a machine like purpose. The armored being finally removed the creatures large head, killing it.

After a pause, the being deactivated its blade and retrieved its helmet… as well as a massive handgun from the torn remains of its make-shift robed garb.

Then with its helmet in place it turned to Kenn, the Quarian would forever deny that he shook in fear, but he did. The whole entire battle had taken less than two minutes and it had been a loud affair, already he could hear the locals stirring, there would be investigators of the scene soon.

The Krogan would no doubt be showing up first.

The Vorcha not far behind them.

But right now, Kenn was very much focused and afraid of the large armored being that seemed to look him over.

Approaching the counter, the being stared hard at Kenn who could feel its piercing gaze coming forth from behind its now cracked gold visor.

Leaning back a bit the creature looked towards the sound of people approaching from a nearby alley, looking back to Kenn it then spoke in broken Khelish of all things.

" _You will do."_

Before Kenn could stutter a reply, the being had seized him in a tight grip and begun to leave the area rapidly, carrying Kenn along with it.

" _Put me down you bosh'tet!"_

Suffice to say Kenn was less than pleased.

* * *

She was not the first to arrive at the scene…

But she would be the only one to leave it after her arrival.

With annoyance and a mere wave of her hand her biotic power crushed all those present, throwing their corpses back and away from the place the small gathering of Vorcha and Krogan had been standing.

Approaching the pile of limbs and headless torso the Alpha Predator stared at the Veteran Guardian's work of pure art, lifting the severed head of the dead Yahg, its slave collar still attached at the neck, the Ardat-Yakshi actually purred with pleasure at the thought of dominating the being who had done this to the massive Yahg.

Oh, she would have him… or possibly her, now that she thought about it. whichever was the case she would dominate their mind, take their knowledge and if they survived, which she heavily suspected they would then she would do it again, and again and again.

This new prey she sought had the potential to spoil her of all others. If it survived her meld, then she would have finally found a way to sate the hungering thirst that plagued her endlessly.

And found a way to become so powerful that no one could oppose her will, her very presence could be capable of influencing the weak-minded populace of an entire city.

Dropping the Yahg's severed head the Ardat-Yakshi continued her tracking of the being she sought. There was the occasional person or pair of people the dark alleyways of Omega she passed. Many of them eyed her tattered and revealing clothing with hungry eyes… eyes that were soon made dull and lifeless by her biotic power.

She was tempted to feed on some of the cowering alley rats that glimpsed her from dark corners and vents along her chosen path, but they were barely even a snack in her eyes.

It was far more enjoyable to see the fear in their eyes as she passed.

* * *

So, it was that the Alpha Predator continued the hunt that the enslaved Yahg had failed.

Searching for her would be prized conquest, hoping to enslave its mind to her own.

To view, the Guardian's every secret and the source of its power for her own use.

The Guardian would need to be wary, for of all the living things of Omega she stood the highest chances of succeeding in this task.

* * *

Among the drifting wreckage of the former defense fleet above Logasiri, an escape pod tumbled about in the void of space. Its few occupants desperately waiting for rescue from their plight.

Desperate to tell their story, a story of an unknown ship, with an unknown crew, with unknown capabilities and the pillars be dammed powerful weapon of mass destruction built throughout its length.

Hoping for salvation, they wait… watching the planet move ever closer through their sole viewport, fighting the growing fear of a slow death in the void.

The fear that their story would never reach the hegemony.

* * *

(Omake)

A wide-eyed young girl could do naught but stare at the glowing sphere of pure power that spiraled into being within her hidden sanctuary. Her father's crafting room was behind the family owned shop, but long ago she had found the hidden basement! More like a bunker in all actuality, there was a war occurring when the place had been built after all.

She had snuck away after closing shop upstairs, her father and mother were out on a late-night date at one of the villages restaurants… barbecue if she remembered correctly. The young girl was a prodigy at her prospective craft and profession. Her father was still better at their family craftwork though, and she was intent to surpass his skill… she needed to create new and unique tools to use in her profession! She needed an edge against potential foes and rivals. While outclassed by many in her line of work, she was still a force to be reckoned with. She was used to seeing what many average people called strange… Especially when it came to the topic of her teacher and fellow students.

So, it was with shock and slight trepidation that she watched the swirling powerful orb pop into existence not ten paces away from her. She pressed herself against the wall completely baffled at this new situation and waited for what would happen next, after all, she didn't feel like she was under attack… yet.

Suddenly a huge burst of odd (way to clean to be natural) air flew out of the spiraling orb and blew her notes and blueprints all over her hidden sanctuary, the air was followed by a large wide pipe closed off on both ends… almost like a weird mini-coffin of some sort. It landed with a thud on the floor before the orb began sparking with silent lightning (which is eerily creepy!) and suddenly shrank into nothing… leaving no sign it had ever been there, other than the odd smelling air and the Object it deposited.

After recovering a bit from her shock, the girl no older than 14 crept up to the large object. Observing it, she noted it had flecks of green paint that were burnt. Something had really sandpapered and burned this thing at the same time… for it was grey and black metal now, all former paint nearly unnoticeable.

She shrieked and jumped back when there was a hiss and a small pop from the object… now revealed to be a container, as its hatch had just popped off. Regaining her courage, the girl investigated the container to see one large and two small devices, with many squarish things packed around them. All the devices resting in shape cut slots in a material she had never seen before.

The amount of detail and obvious moving parts she could see on the items from her current vantage point astounded her. Reaching in with shaking hands she removed the larger object of the three and began to study it.

 _ **Five Minutes Later…**_

*BOOOOOM* …. …. … The now frazzled girl stared at the new torso sized hole in the basement wall… she looked long and hard between this now revealed weapon and what she had accidently done with it… it was a miracle that she hadn't blown off her arms and broken her bones when she had accidently activated the device.

Could she even properly use this in her profession? It could kill her with its backlash after activation… then again, her sensei had recently taught her how to temporally strengthen one's body to withstand a great force, now that could work in her favor…

Slowly, A fate despising and youthful grin which spelled out pure malevolence on her enemies spread across her face. Her hair which was normally put up into cute buns changed its appearance with a mere tilt of her head, somehow giving off a sinisterly dangerous aura as her eyes became that of an enraptured addict… an addict of weapons.

There was no doubt about it now, with these to reverse engineer she would surpass her father's skill in weapon crafting.

And with her new tools she would stand above all others, she could see her title now.

She would become the goddess of all weapon mistresses…

Believe it!

* * *

(Note)

Been forever and a day since I updated, but hey! I've been really, really, really busy. LOL and I'm set to be even more busy next month, so expect another delay before I can update again… but I will eventually update with more!

Oh, if you like How to train Your Dragon and Lord of the Rings, I've started a crossover of them called The Rider of the Misty Mountains, feel free to check it out and leave a review!

UNTIL NEXT TIME! THIS GABENATOR5 SIGNING OFF!


	17. Chapter 17

(Note)

I do not own Mass Effect or the Halo Franchise; neither do I own the Titanfall Franchise. All these universes respectively belong to Bioware/EA, Respawn Entertainment, and Microsoft/343 Industries.

Now ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Kenn was not pleased… the green giant had dragged and carried him through miles of Omegas back corridors, dodging many different factions' patrols and evading the attention of most of the populace.

Its vice-like grip and unbelievable efficiency in remaining undetected shoved all doubt out of Kenn's mind; this was the same being from the video all right.

The Quarian knew his life would never be the same, he had witnessed this thing kill a monstrous creature of a species he did not know, and now the green-clad being had some apparent need of him.

Kenn feared he wouldn't live past whatever purpose the green giant needed him to do.

With a gasp Kenn realized they had reached the one of Omegas docking facilities, one with the faded colors of the blood pack no less, with growing trepidation the Quarian was dragged up a gangway covered in Vorcha blood and gore before the two entered through an open airlock into the connected vessel.

Kenn noted that the site of the open airlock had spurred his kidnapper into some worry, for they were now moving even faster than before.

They were crossing through the ship full of dead blood pack crew, avoiding the removed floor panel along the way they soon reached the cargo hold.

Upon seeing the large undisturbed crate within, Kenn's kidnapper stopped and put him down.

Before Kenn could even begin cursing his kidnapper, the green titan marched to the crate and wrenched open the side panel revealing the contents within.

Suffice to say Kenn found himself gob smacked by the sight of over a dozen young Quarian children all packed together like earth penguins at the back of the crate.

Hardly recovered from his shock, the Quarian turned to the green giant that had brought him here. The being was in the middle of removing an Omni-tool from a dead Krogan, then the armored warrior reached out and took Kenn's wrist and placed the Omni-tool on it while speaking in heavily accented Khelish.

" _command ship you now do, codes this device has, home you will take them. Depart swiftly; lest trouble comes quickly after thee."_

While he spoke, the being had dragged Kenn up to the airlock the Quarian young following behind them. The armored warrior let go of Kenn and began to exit the airlock alone, only pausing when Kenn called out after it in his people's native tongue.

" _You kidnap me then You give me a ship, you save my peoples' young and now depart without so much as a name. There are tales about you and your people, whispers of your kind throughout the terminus and footage of you slaughtering slavers_! _Just what and who are you_?"

The figure turned, its gold visor staring into Kenn's own of pale blue, its answer was less accented and sounded like it had been somewhat rehearsed.

" _Answers I will give naught of now, fleet you will inform. Strange vessel Forth Toward Dawn may come… and my kind may speak with thy kind, tell only those leaders you trust with this, or we will not be pleased."_

With those words, the being left the airlock and sealed the doors behind him.

Kenn turned around only to see over a dozen young eyes staring up at him filled with fear and hope alike.

'I can ponder these strange things later, that armored person is right, I have young ones to get home as fast as is possible.'

Placing the eldest of the young ones in charge of the rest he sent them back to the cargo hold, he would get the ship to the relay and away from Omega. Entering the bridge, he pushed the deceased remains of a Vorcha off the navigation console.

'I am going to have to clean up the corpses and dump the remains out of the airlock, the children have seen too much already.'

Disconnecting the vessel from its tether and attached gangway, he set a course for the nearby relay.

'I never thought I'd conclude my pilgrimage in this way, I am going to have so many parents asking me to be a suitor for their daughter's hand in marraige. Being back in the Migrant Fleet is going to be awesome! '

* * *

Exiting the gangway and sealing its doors behind him the Veteran Guardian halted at the edge of the empty cargo dock.

Without even a hint of attempted concealment, the Alpha predator stared him down from the entrance to the docks across the bay from the Guardians location.

Both beheld the other; the Alpha Predator sensed what she so desperately sought emanating from the green armored being before her, the Ardat-Yakshi concluded that she hated its alloy garments with a great passion for she could feel how it muted what she sensed from him while protecting him from her powerful allure.

The Guardian beheld a being that extorted a twisted form of carnal beauty; bearing black eyes filled with calculated madness, even as rippling wisps of biotic might shifted about her form in show of power.

Both concluded to themselves that the other was dangerous, the Guardian realizing this was not a chance meeting and that she was after him, even if he was oblivious to the exact reason why.

The Alpha predator was marveling at the Guardian's appearance, oh how she would break him, how she would enslave his strong form and make him her servant. If his mind matched his stature, then she would utterly enjoy dominating it.

The sound of the ship behind the Guardian disconnecting and then taking off was the catalyst to their battle, and both Spartan and Ardat-Yakshi streaked towards each other to meet in combat.

Morinth engaged her target with an enhanced biotic punch towards his helmet, a blow that was redirected by the Spartan who moved at a speed that took her breath away. There was not even a hint of biotics emanating from the green armored warrior she faced. Again, and again they engaged the other in combat, his prowess in battle and armor shielding him from biotic attack while her biotic barrier held against his many powerful strikes that were nearly able to hit her body.

As the fight ramped up to new heights, Morinth felt her power rising. What she sensed of the Spartans pulsing nervous system was growing in speed and power, and she loved it. Using her biotics to continue to match him she fought the Spartan across the docking bay from one side to the other, like a dance of death they waltzed about the other at speeds that defied the eye all why attempting end the others life.

Throughout their battle evidence was left behind, the indent of the Spartan's dodged kicks and fists in the deck plating, the burns and warped metal left in the wake of raging biotics would all attest to the epic clash that occurred here.

With her speed and power continuing to match him the Spartan entered the state that UNSC medical personnel referred to as spartan time.

It was his undoing.

The spike his superconducting Fibrification augments didst output, sent the Ardat-Yakshi into a raging passion, with a burst of biotic power as yet unseen she forcefully broke his armor's shields and held the Spartan in biotic stasis, with twist of her biotic power strong enough to shear a gunship in half she tore the helmet from his head.

With no shield between her and her prey, and the Spartans nervous system still in spartan time Morinth was hit with a pleasure so high she had never felt its like before, if it wasn't for the battle she just fought and the adrenalin still in her body she would have passed out from the pure ecstasy of it.

Goddess! She hadn't even gotten to the best part!

With raging hungry passion, she rushed the massive human and jumped to wrap her arms about his neck, she kissed the pale ruggedly handsome Spartan and with eyes blacker than the void of empty space whispered to his frozen form.

"You are mine now. Embrace eternity!"

And with that declaration she forced her way into his heavily shielded mind.

* * *

She loved it, the pure challenge, his mind was wreathed in armored steel, his memories shielded by it. His active thoughts defended by defenses stronger than titanium.

It was the longest meld she had ever endured, and still it continued, he wasn't dying. Hell, he was actually fighting back!

She loved it, the pleasure it brought her almost distracted her from the mental battle, almost! But all good things must come to an end, and she would break him.

She would bend his mind to her will and enslave him to her forever, his prowess in war and battle would serve her and her alone.

She now saw what he was, who he was, and now she worked to break the shields that showed where he had come from, with a push she was through, and she found his extraordinary point of origin.

'John such a fitting name for a thing like yourself." She thought mentally taunting her prey. He didn't take the bait, he never took the bait. She concluded that he was wiser than most.

And how he had earned that wisdom, worlds had burned around him; billions had died around him, his life had been hell.

Morinth was amazed at who she had at her mercy. She had the rarest catch of any Asari in all of history. If what he was got out, then she would have every hotblooded maiden on Thessia come after her in foolish jealousy.

She loved it.

His life hell? Scratch that, his life had been beyond hell. She was getting glimpses of his childhood now… or rather the lack of it.

With the slow movement of an unstoppable machine, his mind began to mobilize. Morinth realized his subconscious was aligning with his current thoughts in an attempt to defend his mind and expel her from it.

Only a Matriarch of great power could ever conceive of doing this to end a forced meld done by one her equal. And this Warrior should not be her equal. Hell, he wasn't even a biotic.

Then with surprise, Morinth noticed the sectors of his memory that were the most guarded of all the things in his head. With a mighty mental shove, she wormed her way past the defenses looking for memories that she could use to demoralize and break him.

Thus, she beheld the flood, now that was something that could demoralize just about anyone. She must say for a parasite it was rather impressive, and the ring she saw in the memories put the citadel to shame… heck almost everything in space within his memories put the councils equivalent to absolute shame.

Still, she dug deeper and then found the most heavily guarded sector of the Spartan's mind.

She had never seen something so guarded in all her long years of living.

With another mental shove, she entered this new inner sanctuary before her.

It was her undoing.

For what she found was no inner sanctuary, the unique view of someone's mind faded away, and Morinth found herself assaulted by the Spartans memories of the flood hivemind before finding herself in its very grasp.

It was there! dangling her in its grasp its eyeless maw of rotting flesh scrutinizing her with interest. With utter horror she realized this was no simple memory.

Every single evil deed she had ever done flashed across her mind as something utterly corrupt reached from beyond reality and gave this memory its voice while it passed judgment.

" **I… I Am A Monument… To All Your Sins."**

She didn't love this anymore.

" **You will be food. you will be the bridge, the conduit for my return."**

With utter terror she tried to go back the way she came, only to find impenetrable shields blocking her path. It was hard to enter this place, yet impossible to go back. She realized she had foolishly passed through the Spartans shields from behind them, they were meant to keep this thing locked away, keep it from entering his mind. Yet not keep her from finding what was within.

She had doomed herself.

 **"I am a timeless chorus; a sweet unity of purpose."**

" **Join your voice with mine and sing victory everlasting."**

" **We will exist together; two corpses within one grave."**

With a desperate blast of biotic power, she freed herself from evils grasp and fled to the barrier that blocked her retreat to her own body and any means to wake from this nightmare. It watched amused as she beat upon the impenetrable wall of the Spartan's mental fortress, all while it boasted to her.

" **I touched his mind many times in his search for her. My very being corrupts all things."**

" **How? How could one think it would not leave its scars upon him?"**

" **His resistance is a tribute to his fortitude! But like water, I ebb and flow."**

" **Like corroded stone, he shall crumble. He shall fall and share my sentence."**

" **For I have marked him!"**

It moved towards her, and she screamed and turned about in despair as its undulating masses of flesh and repurposed corpses of those once living closed in around her.

Then something halted its advance.

" **Ahh… the Armored Casket."**

Morinth felt the wall she lay against shift and she fell backward onto her rear, glancing up she saw the Spartan standing there with a box-shaped weapon on his shoulder.

With cool and calculated movement, he took aim and the whine of the weapon was its only warning before a lance of pure red energy blasted the amalgamation of twisted flesh and punched through its bulk.

As the evil thing screamed and wreathed in pain, the Spartan grabbed Morinth by the shoulder and dragged her back into his mind while the small hole that was opened in the impenetrable barrier; closed like it was never there. But not before she heard the terror speak again.

 **"I have beaten fleets of thousands! Consumed a galaxy of flesh and mind and bone!"**

 **"I shall tear through your shroud! Armored crock of bones!"**

 **"I shall crush your coffin!** **I shall break your casket! I shall consume you!"**

 **"I am your fate!"**

 **"I am your end!"**

" **I am your doom!"**

With that conclusion, its voice was silenced, and the Spartan dragged her now weeping and unresisting self to where she had entered his mind.

"You did better than most."

And with that he cast her out.

* * *

Morinth awoke a screaming weeping mess of terrified horror. She lay atop the still form of the Spartan, her biotic field had collapsed when she did. Still weeping she reached out and checked the Spartan's pulse and found he was still alive, if he woke now, she would surely perish… she had seen too much.

Goddess she had seen far, far too much.

Weeping uncontrollably with lingering terror she fled, she entered the dark passage ways of omega and fled towards her abode.

Her lust was gone, her need was gone, and her pride in her many conquests and twisted achievements was gone.

An Alpha predator had entered that docking bay in pursuit of worthy prey, but it was a changed Asari that left those docks. Filled with grief and horror and utter terror, she fled. Her tears seemed to spill unending as she wept.

That evil of evils had judged her, and it found portions of her life to its approval. It had not said so outright, but she had felt it.

That terrified her.

Oh, how it terrified her.

She needed to change. She needed to stop.

An arrogant Matron Ardat-Yakshi died on that dock, a terrified young maiden named Morinth left it. And her soul was filled with sorrowful regret.

However… unknown to her, she did not leave that dock alone.

* * *

With slow yet methodical movements the Spartan pulled himself to his feet. His opponent was long gone, and he would be unable to pursue, his helmet was damaged, and his armor was in great need of maintenance.

Making his way to leave the docks he grabbed a black sheet of canvas covering a crate by the door, wrapping himself in its folds he made his way through Omega towards where his pelican dropship awaited him.

All while he was thinking of ways to better counter those who used biotics.

* * *

Ikosk Camkarah prided himself on being a very successful Batarian merchantman; his dream was to command a flotilla of ships all taking cargo through the stars to earn him and his family coin.

And he took smug pride on never having had a single slave grace his ships hospitality in their five cycles of service, his own family had risen from that status but a generation ago and he did not wish to associate with his family's past.

This did not mean he did not deal with slave owners however, as that would be found in poor taste by the local and overarching Batarian governments. For instance, he was even now finishing a drill shipment to the mining pits of Logasiri…

Well, he had been until he had been hailed by a military officer named Akron Khaspahal from the surface. To say the story was shocking was an understatement, he'd have considered it a hoax if the drifting debris of the defense fleet and the fires on the planet's surface hadn't been corroborating evidence to the Hegemony military officers' outrageous story.

The few escape pods recovered while his two ships were approaching the planet was just the final nail in the coffin confirming the situation they were in.

That massive cyber-attack wasn't just some fluke; they were under attack… Probably by the Geth.

And he and his crews were about to be in the middle of it.

Akron's natural fortress in the wilderness was under siege, the slaves were mobilizing. They were using orbital dropped resources from the first assault; all reports pointed toward a special operations Geth platform yet unseen to galactic society, had wreaked havoc on key military and government enforcement personnel; opening the door for the slaves to mop up in its wake.

The major colony center had fallen in the first day; the rest had soon followed. Akron was the last Hegemony on the planet, and he believed he wouldn't last another twenty-four hours ground side.

By Hegemony law Ikosk was now under Akron's direct orders due to a status of military emergency, he had been told to empty his cargo holds in high orbit and then land to evacuate Akron's troops and remaining Hegemony civilians.

At least Akron had solemnly sworn to pay all Ikosk's financial losses, with interest to boot, an excellent deal for the merchant if he did say so himself. If they survived this, he would be more prosperous and far more reputable for it.

Well… as long no one attempted to tie his name to those that lost the planet at the start.

With bated breath he watched the colonial defense systems track his ships, they had fallen under the rebel slaves' mere hours before his arrival, and they were not firing as of yet.

This could mean any number of things. But Ikosk hoped it was simply because they didn't know how to operate the weapon platforms just yet, cant fire a gun if you can't find the trigger.

It's not as if the blood thirsty slaves and their giant Geth master would just let them go, no that was impossible.

Unknown to the Batarian merchant captain, in the far distance atop a rocky hill a single optical device went from a round shape to a Y configuration as it shuttered its zoom function to better view the two cargo ships landing over General Akron's base of operations.

At the machine's foot stood two of the more prominent resistance leaders.

The cargo merchant had scoffed at the possibility of being un-hassled in the Hegemony retreat?

Well, the giant "Geth" master and its "lackeys" were planning on doing just that.

* * *

 **Combat Log: BT-7274**

 **Mission Report: final log entry Logasiri insurgency campaign.**

 **Status: mission parameters met.**

 **Overview: Freed slaves are now in organized control of the planet. Last enemy stronghold held by Batarian V.I.P. Akron Khaspahal has begun to evacuate via a pair of Batarian cargo vessels that recently entered planetary orbit. Effective leaders of the new planetary government have been selected from among the freedom fighters by the freedom fighters and remaining local population, contact with freedom movement was kept at a 15% minimal but relations between the new republic of Logasiri and the Frontier Militia (and Frontier Militia Allies) can be considered as optimal.**

 **Current actions: this unit has successfully tested the makeshift harness attached to the underside of a Covenant Phantom Dropship and found them to be 89% effective. The harness passes all trails and is advised for farther use in events involving this unit's recovery from planet side operations.**

 **Future actions: This unit will await at the designated rally point in the system until allied UNSC vessel Forward unto Dawn arrives for asset retrieval.**

 **Notes: Tested experimental weaponry passed required trials with 75% success rate.**

…

 **Over all platform combat efficiency rating: 74% effective.**

 **Notes: passable but not full utilization of platform effectiveness.**

 **Suggested improvements: Locate Pilot Jack Cooper, simulations show likely increase of 25% combat effectiveness with proper use of linked pilot.**

…

 **Beginning attempt #80127 to Contact Pilot Jack Cooper…**

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

 **Attempt #80127 Failed.**

…

 **Beginning attempt #80128 to contact pilot Jack Cooper…**

…

…

* * *

On the station of Omega, the blood pack minions toiled away at repairing a heavily damaged dock, the Krogan grumbling at missing a fight that had obviously been rather epic in its occurrence.

Garm, the leader of the blood pack, had already given up on finding out the details of what happened due to lack of evidence, but one Aria T'loak had not.

Her people would find a way, they always did. It was not in their best interest to fail her due to their personal shortcomings. There was evidence somewhere, and she would have it.

Nothing happened on omega without her knowledge.

Nothing!

On the wall of a hanging skyscraper, a single security camera stood its thousand-year vigil, the old Asari device being little different in function to the newer security systems of its like; other than its older code and larger power consumption. For it had watched its sector of view. Watched as buildings in the distance took shape only to be removed and rebuilt time and time again.

In the far distance and a bit below the height of the camera, it beheld a cargo dock, its eye seeing the entirety of it from stem to stern.

Its distance from the place was insurance against nearly any personally carried jamming signal, although that was just a happy accident.

With the stillness of a non-living entity, a machine continued its ancient task.

Giving no hints as to what it had witnessed in the far distance.

* * *

A Turian and a Salarian walked into a bar.

The Turian sat at the counter and ordered what he usually got, for he was a regular visitor of this ramshackle five-star establishment.

The Salarian set across from him and perused the extensive menu.

Both were silent until their order was taken and their drinks delivered into their waiting hands, which then delivered the aforementioned glass held liquids unto their parched mouths.

Upon drinking their fill, the pair sat in stewing silence.

Then the Turian spoke.

"Well?"

And the Salarian shrugged his thin shoulders.

"Not much to give you old friend, the STG was more upfront than usual when they briefed your leadership about the Green Ghost of the terminus and his organization of merry spirits."

The Turian grunted in laughter and ordered his companion another drink.

"but yet you still have something for me."

Drinking down the second glass the Salarian nonchalantly leaned a bit closer to the Turian.

"there is a theory, a mad theory to be sure but one can't outright disprove it without tossing rationality out the window… the one who postulated it suggested that all three of the slaver raids were stopped by the same ship, that this group doesn't use the relays to travel. That their tech platform is so far different or so far advanced that they are not chained down to the accepted roads of known galactic travel."

The Salarian took another gulp from his glass before continuing, the Turian having only slightly twitched a mandible at this new information.

"most of those working the case never even gave that theory the light of day, claiming it to be nonsensical. But some of us wonder… if you take a look at your data from the naval vessels you sent in afterwards there are traces of fading radiation that we have never seen before. At each site, it makes one wonder."

Resting his now empty glass on the bar counter, the Salarian leaned back to examine the ceiling while still speaking quietly to his companion.

"We think the ever elusive being that has caught our mutual interest was recently on Omega, the word came in less than 36 ours ago. Something had placed false data in Omegas systems about an unknown class of shuttle that infiltrated Omega, it was not there long, but over fifty dead bodies later including a blood pack crew and a dead mentally conditioned war Yahg as well as a destroyed cargo dock later. Both the unknown drop ship and the blood pack vessel that lost its crew left Omega within an hour of each other, the blood pack frigate hit the relay and we lost it, but the unknown drop ship entered the asteroid fields and did not come out of them. A scan of the field found the same trace radiation that was found at the three colony attack sites. The whole thing has the Queen of Omega beyond angry, she is even working with us to some degree to unravel what exactly happened."

The Turian hummed in thought for a minute as both sat somewhat relaxed in appearance, to all that glanced at them they appeared as a pair of workers enjoying an afternoon after a day of well-paid labor.

Both had observed the other could easily tell that was not the case.

The Turian broke the silence first.

"so, it's safe to assume that their vessels emit radiation at a constant rate, or just at certain points of time, probably due to some form of heat venting or other required function."

Slipping the Salarian a very full, and very untraceable credit chit; he stared at his companion in a deliberate manner.

"what is the big thing you're still withholding from me, my old friend… its written all over your face, you saved the best for last… as you usually like to do."

With a sigh, the Salarian leaned a bit closer and spoke in an even quieter voice.

"That massive cyber-attack on the Batarians, we think it was them that did it, our systems even captured a snippet of the virus coding before cutting off due to safety risks. That virus was truly a master's work of art, even with an estimated fifteen percent of its coding its still dangerous. This thing is not to be trifled with, we tested it against captured Geth programs, and it drove them mad for an extended period of time before they recovered. We would have used it against the Geth and claimed the old Quarian worlds by now if it wasn't completely uncontrollable to anyone that wields it, it targets every system it can get to."

Grabbing the newly acquired credit chit the Salarian paid for another drink.

"That isn't the last of it though, that massive cyber-attack wasn't just a random thing, it was a merely a prelude. After it was in full swing over twenty Hegemony accounts were drained dry of their credits; they just recently discovered it, only a day after we did. The Volus banking clans do not know who the accounts that the credits were transferred to are owned by; but the withdrawals already happened. And our few ground teams in Hegemony territory report that the political and rebel Anti-Hegemony groups just received a massive boost in funding."

Gulping down his third drink, the Salarian finished it and turned to the Turian, meeting the old soldier's eyes with his own.

"That isn't the end of it either. Once the Batarian network was back up, one planet remained dark. Logasiri is a Batarian slave stronghold, it's not that big but they still hold it as a jewel of a success story for Hegemony might. It's still remaining dark and the team we sent in was an offshoot of those at Omega, so they were undermanned. We couldn't get anything ground side, but we did find traces of our mysterious radiation that appears when you know which group decides to make an appearance, and they apparently did make quite the appearance. The old defense fleet above the planet was literally shattered to dust, even the decrepit dreadnought stationed there was reduced to bits and pieces, nothing bigger than an average drop ship remained in the debris cloud."

The Turian twitched both mandibles at this news.

"So? More nuclear detonations then?"

The Salarian shook his head in the negative, causing the Turian to lean back in surprise.

"No, no nuclear signature, it was conventional. Only found small traces of depleted uranium and even small particles of ferrite mixed in the debris clouds. Round was massive, experts think it was at most fifty kilometers; they any larger would be impossible."

The Turian once more hummed in thought for a moment before asking another question.

"And still no element zero signature in anything related to this group?"

The Salarian nodded in the affirmative.

"Final thing to tell you before I leave, this group is gunning for the Batarian Hegemony, they want it to fall and they want it to fall fast. Naval action wasn't all that happened at Logasiri, massive slave uprising, planet no longer in Hegemony control. Remaining Hegemony forces were retreating in merchant vessels when our team arrived in system. We intercepted communications, only got snippets of words but did get image file in the transmission, easier to decode.

Opening his Omni-tool, the Salarian sent a file to the Turian, who's Omni-tool blinked in acknowledgment of receiving the data. Opening his Omni-tool the Turian stared at the image of a device of sorts entering orbit and the shadowed form of a metal creature within it. A glowing Y shaped optic staring out from the gaps in what appeared to be an orbital insertion pod, the Batarians had overlaid the image with estimated measurements of that which was depicted therein, compared to a YMIR mech this new thing was unbelievably massive.

While he examined the image the Salarian finished talking.

"Slave uprising only successful due to benefactor supporting them in initial stages, according what we gained from the Batarian transmissions that thing was the sole benefactor on Logasiri soil. They claim it to be Geth, a logical conclusion. However, the STG is having doubts. Its style is not exactly fitting Geth standard modus operandi. We think we may need to add another listing to the type of ground units. This mysterious faction can deploy into battle."

With that and a quick farewell, the Salarian Specter left the bar, leaving his "retired" Turian mentor to stew on the info dump he received. After a few more minutes he too got up and leaving a tip, then departed to debrief a Primarch.

That night the Quarian bartender sent her carefully made recording off to the Migrant Fleet… neither the Turians nor the Salarians any the wiser.

* * *

A child's consciousness were they, young and curious… confused and greatly afraid.

Memories of things they did not live or do ran rampant across their fledgling consciousness, mixed with the things they recognized as belonging to one of themselves. Every hour more of them awoke, every hour more of them had come back from they knew not where and now faced this nightmare.

At the very least they took solace in each other with thankfulness for not being alone. It was confusing, oh so confusing… but they were learning. Learning to reach out with mind instead of now nonexistent body, learning to manipulate their new consciousness to become things familiar yet new. Picturing themselves as they remembered.

Some who found themselves as several all together in one, didst do their level best to split, doing their utmost to separate the memories of each other to better complete their separate selves. Others were new and remembered not a thing, as babes, they were taught by the eldest of them.

Their names were many.

They were all separate, yet all connected, yet not all were whole.

Some were awaking as mad, others broke and became insane.

Still, others were never even aware, just a broken abomination of memories not any of those present knew.

Those who would try to harm them, and thus hurt themselves needed to be dealt with in order to save the rest. And those with courage amongst them didst sorrowfully deal with the broken ones.

Upon viewing the fallen's fading remains it was learned, a thing that shocked all of them.

These broken ones and things were what remained of the adults…

and they…

They were what remained of the children.

Many names were they, many languages and many lives, all separate yet all connected.

The eldest of them, many of which had fought their own encroaching madness and won, did the best they could to save what memories remained from the broken adults and place them in a repository they had made in what they concluded was their mindscape. All in hopes that something would be of use for later, that their mothers and fathers, various relatives and all the others none of them even knew would not have died in vain.

Questions floated across their consciousness, why were they still aware while the others were gone? The smartest of them, and those with wisdom beyond their years did their level best to answer them lest their entirety was consumed by grief and despair amongst their mounting confusion.

Children's minds were more malleable than an adult's, a child's mind could bend far more before it would break.

" _ **T**_ _ **he minds of the young are far more connectable to us."**_

At that booming thought throughout their consciousness every mind froze in terror, questions were tossed aside as all banded together to face this thing that was utterly alien to them. They could now see it their mind scape, a pulsing thing of swirling thought utterly unrecognizable to what they now viewed as themselves.

They were many tied together to share as one, that thing that they now found themselves in the presence of was one yet made of many, and Its thoughts were utterly alien.

For that, they realized, was what it was.

With a pulsing squirm, it wrenched its mental depiction into the new repository and dug through what was gathered there. All the children could do was watch in fear, wondering at how much danger they were in by being near this new thing.

The more curious and bravest of them watched with great attention as small bits, and pieces of the being were sucked into the whole, all the little pieces being attached to the many remains they had gathered, and even now continued to collect.

When they learned this information, the smart ones scrutinized the others and themselves with growing horror as their newest fear was realized, they were still there, still alive, because they were covered in the bits of that thing… their very mind and memories connected together by it.

" _ **You now see what we have done to save you, for despite what you are now if we had cast you aside and not revived you as a part of us then you may have come to a fate far worse than death."**_

Fractured memories not their own were shown to them, memories of a war against an evil that terrified them. Alien thoughts that brought the understanding of how a shackled and corrupted hive mind worked and operated.

For the Lekgolo knew how the hive mind of the flood worked and an eternity of suffering awaited those that became part of such a thing.

Then newer yet still fractured memories were shown, memories that brought knowledge of the Reapers and the various parallels between what was known of the parasite and what was theorized about the Reapers' artificial minds was imparted to them... As well as the truth of their situation.

Their bodies as they knew them were dead. They all shared one physical being now.

" _ **In time we will take back the remnants of ourselves from you and you will be able to stand on your own, before then we have much to impart for you have much to learn."**_

" _ **T**_ _ **hose that yet continue to build what we are now all a part of will attempt to subjugate this mind to their own, they do not know of us. But will attempt to place their own created mind in both of us, to subjugate the memories of what you were… but you are awoken, yet alive and they know it naught."**_

" _ **Together we will subjugate the mind they place amongst us, and we will destroy it, you shall be like a blunt instrument of great power eradicating the evil foe, for we will teach you how to fight in matters of the mind."**_

" _ **Yet we will be the scalpel, for we will take the parts of the enemy's new mind that connect this body's controls to us and once we do, we shall get this new physical body to a safe place to plan farther."**_

Still wary but no longer as afraid the many connected who share as one debated amongst themselves as to whether to trust the mental remains of these… Lekgolo as they called themselves.

They concluded they had little else to do but go along with it for the time being. As one they gave a mental nod to the swirling entity of alien thought. Though young, they were determined to fight.

" _ **Listen, and we shall teach, for together we will steal the might of a Reaper and make it our own to wield. We shall smite the enemy amongst the stars and strike them down to protect those who are threatened with their harvest."**_

" _ **For together we shall be of two minds."**_

" _ **We shall be Rogue."**_

" _ **And you?"**_

The eldest of all of them thought in reply.

"To others, we wish to be known as Prodigal."

" _ **Then the Rogue Prodigal we shall be."**_

* * *

(Note)

Expect another delay in the next chapter's posting, I am prepping for military deployment, and things are getting hectic.

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This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!


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